Ryloth: A New Peril
by GerdavR
Summary: After joining the Dark Council Badesh has to face the order of Revan - a dangerous sect that is trying to destroy the Empire as well as the Republic. With the help of Vette and Quinn (and two mysterious republic agents) the blood-thirsty Sith sets out to crush the enemies of the Empire! Sequel to "Ryloth" but works also as stand-alone. Gore/fix-it. WARNING: SW and IA spoilers.
1. The Dark Council

**Ryloth: A New Peril**

The biting stench of burnt flesh hung in the air. The woman lying on the floor of the Dark Council chamber was screaming at the top of her lungs as Darth Nox shot lightning at her. They stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by twelve thrones. The Council had assembled to punish one of their own: Nox stopped his lightning and returned to his throne. Badesh knew that now was his turn, he was excited – it had been quite a while since he last had the opportunity to kill somebody.

"Darth Tenebra, you have the honour to hand out the final punishment," said Darth Marr.

"Gladly," replied Badesh. He shortly considered to remove his mask in order to see the destruction of Darth Zhorrid with his own eyes. To feel warm blood on his face… and yet he resisted the urge. He had joined the Dark Council only weeks ago and did not wish to appear as a reckless and impulsive man; Badesh knew that he had already proven that he was a powerful Sith, but he also wanted to be known as a reasonable leader.

Badesh strode to the woman who was silently sobbing in the middle of the chamber. But as he stood next to her she defiantly lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye.

"This is all my father's fault… he never…" She broke off, hatred and a hint of madness glittering in her eyes. Her dark hair was hanging down in streaks. Zhorrid had a broad scar running across her lower jaw. Badesh shortly wondered if she had earned it in a battle.

"Stand up and face me, Zhorrid. Fight me like a Sith – and die like a Sith!" Badesh sincerely hoped that there was still fight left in her, he longed for a battle.

"You grant her too much honour, Darth Tenebra," jeered Darth Malgus from his throne. He was breathing heavily through his respirator when he spoke. "She failed her duties and almost destroyed Imperial Intelligence!"

"It's not about honour," replied Badesh calmly. "I want to test my strength against her; she is the daughter of Darth Jadus after all."

"Very well, but I suspect that you will be disappointed," sneered Darth Marr and threw his lightsaber towards Zhorrid. It slid right in front of her and with and angry scream she grabbed it and tried to behead Badesh. He blocked her lightsaber with his own and used the force to throw her against the wall next to the entrance. Zhorrid coughed up blood and gritted her teeth. But before she could raise to her feet Badesh jumped at her and split her skull in half with his blade. As he registered that his opponent was already dead he let out a frustrated growl and mutilated the body until it was but a pile of flesh. Scrowling he returned to his seat, adrenalin cursing through his veins. This fight hadn't been only disappointing, it was downright insulting that someone who was so weak had been allowed on the Dark Council!

"We should consider to abolish the regulation that enables children of Dark Council members to inherit their seat," Badesh hissed while signalling the maintenance droids to remove the remains of Darth Zhorrid.

"I second that," added a Sith in plain robes. He wasn't wearing a mask or a respirator like the rest of the Dark Council.

Badesh found it interesting that Darth Vowrawn was actually supporting his motion. He had always thought that the elder Sith pure-blood was a traditionalist. Had he misread Vowrawn?

The other members agreed to the change and Badesh felt something akin to surprise that his proposal had gone unchallenged. But it did little to dispel his exitement after the disappointing fight.

"Does anyone want to claim Zhorrids former area of responsibility?" asked Marr.

"I do," said Badesh with a firm voice. "Since I'm also responsible for Sith Intelligence I would be able to annihilate any redundancies between the two agencies."

"I object!" Darth Nuresh stood up and clenched her hand into a fist. "Darth Tenebra hasn't proven himself to us! I claim Imperial Intelligence for myself – it would be unwise to let so much power in the hand of a…"

"I hope for your sake that you don't finish that sentence!" Badesh's voice was very quiet, but Nuresh fell silent.

A light-hearted laughter rang through the chamber; Vowrawn was clapping as if he were a spectator at the theatre. He was clearly amused. Badesh frowned but remained silent.

Vowrawn still smiled when he spoke: "Good show! I didn't know that you had a sense of humour, Nuresh! Otherwise one had to assume that you – the overseer of the imperial armament – think that Imperial Intelligence falls into your business responsibility."

Darth Nox leaned back in his throne. "I support Darth Tenebra's claim. He has proven on Corellia and on Belsavis that he has gasped the importance of solid intelligence."

Badesh felt satisfaction when he heard what Nox said. They trusted each other since their mission to destroy the republic War Trust, such a bond was truly a rare thing among Sith.

"I concur," Darth Malgus stared at Badesh with his cold, deep red eyes. "You won't disappoint us, will you?"

Badesh didn't deign to answer.

oOOo

Red sand crunched under Badesh's boots as he made his way from the Sith academy to the shuttle. A sharp wind blew through the valley of the Dark Lords, a lone tumbleweed crossed his way. Usually members of the Dark Council were accompanied by soldiers or the imperial guard; Badesh had relinquished this service. Perhaps Nuresh had arranged for an assassination? The very thought of an ambush excited him and his breath quickened. But to his frustration he arrived to the shuttle without an incident.

On the orbital station his bottled up anger disappeared as soon as he stepped out of the shuttle. The very sight of Captain Malavai Quinn and Ensign Ce'na – Vette – caused him to smile. They had been waiting for him. Quinn snapped to attention while Vette simply smiled at him. Badesh felt a very strong affection towards Quinn and Vette.

"My Lord, I have been informed about your new area of responsibility. I already compiled a dossier on Imperial Intelligence – you will find it on your data pad," Quinn stated smoothly.

Badesh simply nodded and strode towards the airlock on which the _Fury_ was docked.

ooOOoo

Upon their return to Kaas City Badesh decided that he needed to confer with the Minister of Intelligence as well as with the current Keeper of the Cipher Agents to coordinate all intelligence efforts. He strode through the Citadel on his way to Darth Zhorrids former office and reached out with the force to absorb the tense atmosphere in the heart of Imperial Intelligence.

Most imperial citizens were afraid of their secret service – and for good reason, Imperial Intelligence was quick to root out anyone who dared to criticise the Dark Council or the Emperor. A feeling of sour fear surrounded most of the minds he touched. Finally he reached out for his companions: Quinn's focused, hot and intense energy comforted and exited him while Vette's amorphic signature mystified and calmed him.

Badesh heard how Vette whispered: "Wow, and here I thought that I've already seen Kaas City's most depressing sights, but this…" He saw how she pointed at the large stylised eye above their heads which symbolised Imperial Intelligence.

"It's a sign of internal security, nothing more," retorted Quinn in an even voice.

As expected Vette drew breath to contradict Quinn's statement, but in the end she remained silent. Badesh was almost a little disappointed.

They reached Zhorrid's former office and the guard let Badesh and his companions in without any questions – news travel fast. As soon as the door slid close behind them Badesh turned on his heel to face his subor… his friends.

"I'm about to meet with the Minister of Intelligence as well as with Keeper. Vette, arrange everything as fast as possible. Quinn – I need an overview over the latest operations as well as all the critical theatres of war."

Vette nodded and went to the commstation to set up the meeting, while Quinn stood unmoved and cleared his throat: "My Lord, my security clearance is too low to gather all the necessary information – could you grant me temporary Level 10 clearance?"

"Of course, I will…" Badesh was interrupted by the ring of the intercom. He frowned and strode over to the desk and activated the intercom. "Yes?"

"My Lord, Cipher Nine has arrived for her appointment," reported a male voice – probably one of the guards outside. Badesh suspected that the appointment was a leftover from Zhorrid's schedule and decided that he would meet with the Agent. It was unusual that a Cipher Agent would deal directly with the Sith overseer of Imperial Intelligence; his curiosity was piqued.

"Very well, send the Agent in."

The door slid open and a tall dark-skinned human woman stepped into the room. She didn't let on that she was surprised to see somebody else as Zhorrid in the office of the Sith overseer, but Badesh registered the way she was looking at each of them that she was assessing the situation. Her right hand lay casually on her blaster.

Quinn must have registered her behaviour as well and said with a firm voice: "Stand at attention while in the presence of a member of the Dark Council, Agent!" Badesh smirked, he liked the way Quinn dealt with these situations – effective and yet discreet.

"Apologies, my Lord," she replied and snapped to attention. "I was under the impression that Darth Zhorrid had summoned me."

"Darth Zhorrid has been deemed unworthy by the Dark Council – I'm taking over as of now." Badesh had never fought a trained imperial agent, he wondered briefly how long Nine would last against him. He pushed that thought aside and focused on the task at hand. "Tell me about your current mission and Zhorrid's special interest in it."

"Forgive me, my Lord, but I believe what I'm about to say is for your ears only," Cipher Nine replied.

Vette and Quinn moved towards the door, but Badesh lifted his hand to signal them to stay. Quinn and Vette were his closest advisors, it seemed pointless to keep them out of the loop.

"Speak," commanded Badesh in a low voice.

"As you wish, my Lord. I'm in charge of the investigation of the terrorist attacks on the _Dominator_. As you probably know, Darth Zhorrid's father, Darth Jadus, was killed in that incident. She wanted regular reports on the development of the case. We had a break-through yesterday – all traces lead to an abandoned republic space-station at the fringe of the Kaas-System. There is a very high probability that we will find the masterminds of the attack there."

"Fascinating. Does that mean that the Republic was behind the attack?" Badesh was genuinely interested.

Nine produced a small holo pad and displayed the space-station, she enlarged a small part until a small space-ship became visible.

"We don't know, but this ship is an _imperial_ military vessel. Perhaps a third force is orchestrating an attack and tries to mask it as a republic operation."

"A third force? Do you have any proof?" asked Quinn sceptically.

Nine looked from Badesh to Quinn, she was obviously waiting for the Sith to crush Quinn's windpipe for speaking out of turn. After a few seconds however it became clear that Badesh didn't mind the question and she answered it.

"No proof, but Imperial Intelligence had several encounters with the Star Cabal, an inter-galactic organisation with the goal to 'balance' the galaxy by sabotaging the Empire as well as the Republic. We destroyed them a few years ago – but it is not to be excluded that they have returned."

Vette stepped next to Badesh. "I guess you think that way because the Republic wouldn't gain anything by blowing up an imperial ship – even if a member of the Dark Council was on board."

Again Nine waited shortly before replying: "Correct… Ensign. The whole attack seemed so random, there has to be a larger scheme. Somebody gained something by this attack – the question is who?"

"A very good question, Agent. I'm looking forward to your report – when do you leave?"

"As soon as I reach the spaceport, my Lord," retorted Nine. Suddenly Badesh noted that she had an air of urgency over her. By the Emperor, instead of carrying out this important mission right away she had reported to… Zhorrid. Badesh felt anger boiling up inside him.

"This delay is unacceptable! Did Darth Zhorrid insist on this meeting?" He felt the urge to crush something and the picture of Zhorrid's mutilated body came to his mind. It calmed him a little.

"Yes my Lord, it is not my place to… well, actually I told Darth Zhorrid that time was of utmost importance – she ignored it."

"I can assure you that this waste of time and resources will stop – you're dismissed!"

An expression of surprise was written on Nine's face, but then she bowed and left. As soon as the door had slid shut behind Nine Badesh let out a growl of frustration. He longed for … anything to make this tense feeling go away… But then he felt a hand on his arm and as he looked down he saw Vette standing in front of him. His anger started to tickle away.

"I set up a meeting with the Minister and Keeper – they will be here in an hour. Are… are you alright, or shall I postpone?"

Badesh exhaled and replied: "No, the meeting is too important."


	2. Imperial Intelligence

Vette was standing in the archives of the Citadel, looking for files. She didn't get as many glares as she used to when she was but a slave in Badesh's service when she walked the streets of Kaas City – but being in the heart of Imperial Intelligence made her feel as if all eyes, visible and invisible, were set on her. Watching her every movement... Yet she knew that she had to get used to it. Badesh was now responsible for Imperial as well as Sith Intelligence. At least the force-sensitives in the latter agency used to look straight through her as if she didn't exist… Finally she pulled the last file and copied it on a secure data pad.

Vette was relieved when she returned into Badesh's office. Her Boss, as she called him secretly, sat at his desk mulling over reports. His black skull-like mask lay next to him. As usual he had the look of a caged nexu.

Vette walked over to Quinn who was working on the commstation and handed him her data pad and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. It was inappropriate in this place and time, but she liked to touch and grab her lover and sometimes she just couldn't hold back. Their eyes met shortly. Quinn smiled as coy as always and returned to his work. Vette returned to the desk and sat down across from Badesh and picked up a data pad with the organisation chart of Imperial Intelligence. After a few minutes the intercom came to life as the guard announced the Minister of Intelligence and Keeper.

Badesh put his mask back on. The door slid open and the visitors entered. Vette had met the Minister, a fair-skinned balding elderly human male with grey hair, a few times since the time when Badesh had handled the conquest of Corellia. She was however surprised that the handler of all imperial top-agents was a rather young looking human woman with short dark hair.

"Darth Tenebra, good to see you," announced the Minister and bowed before Badesh who was now standing in front of his desk, hands clasped behind his back. Vette was standing further back next to the commstation, Quinn on the other hand stood next to Badesh.

"My Lord," said Keeper and bowed as well.

"Minister, Keeper – I summoned you here to officially inform you that I have taken over Darth Zhorrid's duties. I want to end the rivalry between Imperial and Sith Intelligence – our main goal has to be to destroy the Empire's enemies and not to entertain personal vanity… from certain Sith Lords."

Keeper seemed surprised about Badesh's statement while the Minister simply nodded and said: "My Lord, I'm looking forward to working with you. I have no doubt that our agency will operate at peak efficiency."

"My Lord, may I boldly inquire about your command structure? Since your companions are present I assume that they have also the highest security clearance," asked Keeper, she looked directly at Vette but there was no contempt in her eyes only curiosity.

"Indeed. Captain Quinn and Ensign Ce'na have my absolute confidence. I'm aware that usually the apprentice of a Darth also oversees daily operations, but since my apprentice got killed… Quinn will be my deputy should I be unavailable."

Quinn remained seemingly impassive but Vette knew him well enough to see at the way how he shifted slightly in his parade rest that he was completely taken aback by this development. And she knew him also well enough that he would protest in 3 2 1…

"My Lord, I'm honoured beyond words. But perhaps it would be wise to appoint a more seasoned officer as your deputy."

Badesh remained perfectly calm, Vette suspected that he had also anticipated Quinn's reluctance. "It's not about experience, Quinn… Do you have any objections, Minister? Speak freely, I'm not interested in a yes-sayer so please be blunt."

The Minister cleared his throat. "I have no objections against Captain Quinn, my Lord. I won't waste time by pretending that I haven't inquired about him or Ensign Ce'na – I'm sure he will excel. But might I suggest that you promote both your companions? It will surely make everything easier if at least Captain Quinn's rank would be more appropriate to his new post."

"A valid point, Minister – I will file the necessary papers as soon as possible. I'm sure that Grand Moff Kilran won't oppose the promotions."

Vette and Quinn simply bowed – the decision had been made. She felt a little strange at the prospect of getting fast-tracked into the imperial navy, but at the same time Vette realised that it would have been naïve to think that Badesh wouldn't give them the formal authority to be his advisors.

ooOOoo

A few days later they were en route to Korriban with the _Fury_. Badesh was to oversee a new batch of force-sensitives – he was in need of an apprentice after all.

Vette was replicating a cup of coffee in the mess hall when Quinn and Badesh joined her. She put two pieces of sweetener in her beverage and sat down.

"Is it really necessary to get another apprentice, Bo… my Lord? The last one almost got us killed." Vette though fleetingly of the mental and physical torture Jaesa had put her through.

Badesh pulled a tarisian tea from the replicator and leaned against the wall. Instead of his usual heavy black armour with spikes and armaments he just wore a simple grey tunic.

"It's an unwritten law that any Sith should take an apprentice – otherwise they would be considered weak or even worse: as cowards who fear younger and bolder Sith."

Quinn replicated two cups of coffee and brought one of them to Vette. She frowned, she had already a coffee… but a look in her cup showed her that it was already empty.

"Thanks _Major_!" she exclaimed and eagerly took a gulp from the new cup. "It's still weird – yesterday a few grunts even saluted me."

"As they should, _Sergeant_ ," replied Quinn. "But Vette has a point, my Lord. It seems… undeserved to get promoted so quickly…"

Badesh smiled at him, it was rare for the Sith to show his feelings. "Only you would question your own promotion, Malavai. This trait alone qualifies you to… you both deserve your promotions."

Vette got the impression that Badesh was about to say something corny before he stopped himself. He was a strange Sith, she mused, Badesh had clearly a very soft spot for Quinn and herself, but at the same time he was very ruthless – even sadistic – in achieving his goals.

A shrill beeping interrupted her thoughts; it was the signal for an urgent holocall. All three of them instantly gathered around the commstation, Vette put the call through. From the corner of her eye she saw how Badesh put his Sith mask on.

The bluish-grey image of Keeper appeared on the holo. "My Lord, I'm sorry to disturb you – but there has been a very important development on Cipher Agent Nine's investigation of the _Dominator_ -bombing."

"Go ahead, Keeper," Badesh simply commanded.

"Nine is currently pursuing the man responsible for the heinous act – it appears that Darth Jadus is very alive and is the one responsible for the attack. He is on the dreadnaught _Tempest_ , it seems that the crew is devoted to Darth Jadus and that they're attempting to defect into the unknown regions."

"Darth Jadus is still alive? That treacherous scum!" Badesh sneered.

"My Lord, Nine needs back-up. She and her partner are alone on the _Tempest_ and they wouldn't stand a chance against a Sith as powerful as Jadus. A destroyer has already been deployed to intercept him, but we lack force-users. I don't have time to scramble anyone else and according to our intel your ship is merely a few parsecs away from the last known position of the dreadnaught. We have to stop the _Tempest_ before it can jump into hyperspace, my Lord!"

"I will kill that bastard myself – transmit the coordinates at once!" Badesh's breath had quickened, he was clearly thrilled about the coming battle.

"Yes my Lord – good hunting," replied Keeper and her holopicture vanished.

"Coordinates received, my Lord – I will plot a course to intercept the ship," informed Quinn and strode into the cockpit.

Badesh walked briskly into his quarters, without doubt he was about to put his battle-armour on. Vette stayed in the middle of the _Fury_ , despite all the battles she had already fought it still made her nauseous. She envied Quinn's cold professionalism and wished that she could also simply snap into a stoic-soldier-mode as soon as it got hairy. She checked her blasters and the vibro-knife she wore in her right boot, her hands trembled slightly.

Vette felt how the hyperdrive engines of the _Fury_ became active and a well-know hum indicated that they had made a hyper-space jump. She took a few deep breaths and entered the cockpit. Quinn was completely immersed into piloting the ship, she sat down in the co-pilot seat. After a few minutes they jumped out of the hyper lane right into a full-scale space battle. Dozens of small tie-fighters were flying around the dreadnaught, red laser-bolts lit up the dark space. Quinn had to fly several evasive manoeuvers lest the _Fury_ would be hit.

"We are being hailed by the destroyer – putting through now," said Vette. She tried to sound as calm as possible while watching how several imperial fighters were destroyed in the raging battle.

"This is Captain Dorne from the destroyer _Tulak Hord_ , identify yourself!"

"This is Major Quinn from the _Fury_ ; Darth Tenebra is ready to board the _Tempest_. We're requesting an escort," Quinn replied calmly in his usual slightly arrogant inflexion.

"Understood, sir! Deploying an escort now!"

Vette sprang into action and hurried to the battle station in the lower section of the Fury. She brought all weapon turrets online. In a matter of seconds she was ready to fire upon any ships that pursued them, the scrambled escort, consisting of four fighters, did shield them from most of the attacks, but nevertheless Quinn had to fly several evasive manoeuvers and Vette shot down two enemy fighters who tailed them. Adrenalin was rushing through her veins as she hit another fighter with a series of shots, suddenly she heard how Quinn spoke to her through the commsystem: "Vette, get back up here! We're about to land in less than 45 seconds – it's going to be rough! We have to go in with high velocity!"

She left her post and returned to the cockpit as fast as possible and strapped herself down on the co-pilot seat. Badesh was already sitting in the command seat, seeing him in his battle-armour calmed her down. They were about to board a hostile dreadnaught and the prospect almost made her throw up. She had to calm down, they would make it! They had to! The landing pad was right before them, only a few kilometres…

On their right side one of the escort fighters exploded and a hail of laser bolts hit the _Fury_ on the starboard wing. The spaceship trembled, but Quinn managed to stay the course. A few seconds later they flew into the landing bay and touched down. Due to the _Fury_ 's high velocity the ship slid towards the control centre in the back of the landing bay and collided with the wall. As soon as the ship stopped moving Badesh sprang to his feet and rushed towards the airlock. Quinn unfastened his seatbelt, and exchanged a quick glance with Vette before he followed Badesh. She took a deep breath and rushed also to the exit.

As soon as she stepped out of the _Fury_ she saw to her relief that Captain Dorne had sent reinforcement – two small troop transporters had landed and at least two dozen soldiers were standing ready to accompany them.

"Quinn, take one platoon to the engine room and make sure that the _Tempest_ can't jump into hyperspace! Secure the landing pad with a small detachment – the rest is with me!"

Quinn did as commanded and Vette followed Badesh. She wasn't familiar with imperial dreadnaughts, but she assumed that he led his troops straight to the bridge. On their way they met heavy resistance but Badesh was a force of nature, he jumped from one opponent to the next beheading them almost with only one swing with his red-bladed lightsaber. Vette wasn't a stranger to Badesh's bloodlust but the way he simply crushed the head of an enemy soldier with the force and hurled the body away like trash… he still scared her a little in moments like that. Finally they reached the door to the bridge; Badesh was covered in blood and little flesh chunks. He was breathing heavily and Vette suspected that it wasn't the exertion but the excitement that caused his panting.

Badesh turned to his troops. "I can feel Darth Jadus behind this door – he is a very powerful Sith and I will try to subdue him for questioning. Should he gain the upper hand – shoot him! Until then… stay back!" He turned his attention to Vette. She couldn't help but notice that little drips of blood were running down his mask. "Vette, I feel Cipher Nine's presence as well – make sure that she gets into safety. She has undoubtedly vital intel."

Vette nodded and readied her blasters. Badesh force-pushed the wings of the door away and stormed onto the bridge. Vette had expected equally heavy resistance, but she registered quickly that there were only three people present: Nine, a dark-haired human male and a man in red and violet robes with a golden mask. The agent and her partner were bound and knelt before Jadus, it appeared that they were unharmed.

Jadus ignited his lightsaber and attempted to kill Nine and the man but Badesh threw his lightsaber and deflected the attack. He jumped, catching his returning weapon in mid-air, at Jadus and their lightsabers interlocked.


	3. Dominated

Pure excitement flew through Badesh, he felt how powerful Jadus was and the prospect of fighting against such a strong opponent made him… joyful. From the corner of his eye he saw how Vette and a few soldiers dragged the agent and her partner away from the fight. Jadus gestured and a chair flew towards Badesh, he dodged it easily but it enabled Jadus to shoot lightning at the agent. Badesh cursed under his breath, he had let his battlelust blind him! Clearly the agent was very important and Jadus was about to kill her. Damn it! He now had to capture Jadus alive, the agent… a scream rang out and Badesh jerked his head towards the source of the cry: Vette! She had thrown herself between the lightning and the agent, Badesh saw her fall in slow motion. Hot fury boiled up deep inside him, he heard his own blood swooshing in his ears. He grabbed Jadus' jaw with his left hand and applied so much force-power that the mask was split in half. The Sith shouted something but Badesh couldn't hear him, he lifted his opponent with the force into the air and threw him against a console. Jadus simply shrugged and rose to his feet. His face was marked by the dark side of the force: black veins ran across his face, his red eyes expressed hatred. Jadus smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He shot lightning at Badesh who skilfully dodged the attack and jumped at Jadus. He was in mid-air when he realised that his opponent was about to summon a force-storm – it was too late to stop and he was caught in lightning and fell on the floor. Badesh felt like every fibre of his being was about to be burnt, but the pain didn't cause him to succumb, it rather exhilarated him.

Jadus was still shooting lightning at him, but Badesh slowly rose to his feet, taking one step after another towards Jadus whose face showed a flicker of fear when Badesh started to lift his lightsaber. Jadus' face screwed up in exertion and he intensified his lightning. The agony was now almost too much to bear, gone was the thrill of feeling alive, Badesh felt how he started to bleed from the nose. His strength left him and he fell on his knees. He had failed! Jadus would escape, he would… he would kill… Vette… Quinn… Badesh didn't even have to finish his thought, even the prospect of letting them die was so unacceptable that he summoned the last bit of his power and leaped forward. He gritted his teeth and surrounded his fist with the force, then he punched Jadus in the chest. Badesh felt how his fist penetrated Jadus' breastplate and he moaned in satisfaction when he felt warm innards around his hand. Something pulsed near it and Badesh grabbed it and jerked Jadus' heart out, and held it high in the air as Jadus fell lifeless on the ground. The sight of his enemy's heart in his hand send a surge of ecstasy through him and for a moment everything was alright, Badesh felt at peace.

The bliss lasted only for a few moments. Badesh felt how the pain returned to his body and with it his awareness of his surroundings: The imperial troops had secured the bridge, the soldiers didn't dare to look in his direction – they made an effort to avoid his gaze. Nine and her partner on the other hand stared right at him, Badesh registered with satisfaction that even in Nine's schooled countenance shock and fear were highly visible. Then his sight fell on Vette, she lay on the floor not far from the agents. Badesh felt sting in his chest and let the heart fall, he rushed to Vette and kneeled beside her.

"Medic!" he yelled and pulled his right glove from his hand to feel her pulse. Nothing. The lightning must have stopped her heart. The medic arrived and knelt down beside Vette. He applied several electro-probes on her chest and managed to get her heart pumping again.

"Her condition is very unstable, my Lord – we need to get her to a kolto-tank as fast as possible," reported the medic.

Images from the time when Quinn was deadly wounded appeared in front of Badesh's inner eye. Back on Hoth he had managed to save Quinn by using the force to… But he was a member of the Dark Council now. He would show weakness by… Badesh stared at Vette and he felt how a lump formed in his throat.

"I will stabilize her, prepare a kolto-tank!" Badesh closed his eyes and reached deep down into his own self, everything around him became still and cold. He could feel the force lingering and flowing through every being in the room. Badesh compelled the force to gather in his palms and as he felt a strange warm feeling taking hold of him he put his hands on Vette's chest. He opened his eyes again and saw how a golden aura passed from his hands to Vette. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Badesh…" she whispered. "Were is Mal, what happened?"

"Stay still, Vette," he answered and took his hands away, bloody handprints showed clearly where he had touched her. Badesh briefly toyed with the idea that he should threaten everybody in this room to keep quiet about his… unusual action, but he disregarded this notion. Nine had seen it and there was no way that he could keep it a secret. The medic had arranged for a stretcher and Vette was taken away.

He rose to his feet and returned to Jadus' corpse. The heart was lying in a pool of blood next to it. Badesh picked it up and looked at it with mild curiosity and satisfaction. A fine trophy indeed. His holocommunicator beeped and Badesh knew before he looked at the caller ID that it was Quinn.

"My Lord, the engine room is secured. What is the status on the bridge?"

"Darth Jadus is dead. Vette got injured but she will be well." As soon as he mentioned Vette Badesh registered that Quinn's professional mask slipped for a second and revealed sorrow and concern, but he regained his countenance quickly.

"I… I see, my Lord. Do we have other means to discern the motive behind the attack on the _Dominator_?"

"I'm confident that Cipher Nine has additional intel – and we have captured several hostile soldier for questioning." Badesh ordered Quinn to come to the bridge as soon as possible and ended the holocall.

Badesh returned to Nine and the other agent, upon closer inspection he realised that the dark-haired man looked like a human but his eyes were pitch-black. Badesh had heard about the Kilik and their joiners but it was the first time that he saw one.

"Interesting company you keep, Cipher," Badesh said with a low voice and called another medic. Badesh handed the medic the heart which he was still holding. "Preserve it, I wish to put it on display in my office." The man paled slightly, but he saluted finally and hurried away.

"I vouch for Vector, my Lord," retorted Nine with defiance in her voice.

"I didn't question his loyalty, Agent…and watch that tone!"

Quinn entered the bridge and stepped next to Badesh, he looked pale and Badesh felt that his usually focused energy was somewhat in disarray.

"My Lord, I contacted Captain Dorne – the _Tempest_ will be flown back to the Imperial Fleet. All captives will be transferred to Imperial Intelligence on Dromund Kaas," Quinn stated. "The _Fury_ has taken damage but it is spaceworthy."

"Good, Cipher – you're with me. I expect a full briefing once we are on board of the _Fury_. Quinn, arrange for Vette to be transferred in our Medbay."

"Yes my Lord," replied Quinn as smoothly as ever while Nine simply bowed.

ooOOoo

As soon as they had boarded the _Fury_ Badesh called a meeting in the conference room. Only he, Quinn and Nine were present, Vette was still in the kolto-tank.

"My Lord, my previous assessment was that the Star Cabal had orchestrated the attack on the _Dominator_ ," began Nine, "but everything I've uncovered so far points in another direction." She activated the small holostation on the conference table. The picture of a Sith appeared. "It appears that a new cult has emerged: the Revanites."

"I assume they're connected to the Sith Lord Revan?" asked Quinn. Badesh had heard about that particular Sith but he was surprised that Quinn knew him as well. A little smile escaped his lips, his subordinate was the most diligent officer he had ever met. He felt a warm knot in his stomach as he looked at Quinn's handsome features.

"Yes, Major. They were once an obscure little sect, but it seems that they have usurped the Star Cabal's former agents and assets – and that is no small feat. Darth Jadus acted probably on the orders of the new leader of the Revanites."

"Do we know who they are?" inquired Badesh.

"No, and we don't know for certain what the Revanites are planning. Their philosophy is to bring balance between the dark and the light side of the force – in a way very similar to the philosophy of the Star Cabal – but it is unclear how they intent to reach this particular goal. But since they are obviously gathering a fleet and powerful force-users I assume that they intend to attack either the Republic or the Empire."

"It is quite alarming that this Cult of Revan holds so much power that even a member of the Dark Council succumbed to it," said Quinn. "How far does this conspiracy reach in your opinion, Cipher?"

She shut down the holoprojector and eyed up Quinn and Badesh. "First of all… It's my job to be paranoid, but… there has to be at least one major player in the Empire who is also a Revanite. Jadus knew all about me and about Vector and I'm a Cipher Agent – I don't even exist in the imperial database."

Quinn was sceptical. "But Darth Jadus was in charge of Imperial Intelligence, surely he must have known about you?"

Nine smiled. "Of course, but I joined Imperial Intelligence _after_ the attack on the _Dominator_. There is no way how he could know about me. We have a revanite traitor in the highest ranks of the Empire."

Badesh felt an unfamiliar twinge in his heart. It disquieted him greatly to think about anyone high enough to leak such sensitive information to anyone. He did trust only a handful of people but the idea that someone in High Command or on the Dark Council was a traitor unsettled him more than he had anticipated.

"Do you think that the Republic has also been undercut by Revanites?" asked Quinn with a deep frown.

"I don't know," admitted Nine. "But the Star Cabal certainly had operatives in the Jedi Order as well as the Republic Senate. There is a high possibility that they are facing similar problems as we are."

"We have to keep this between us, Cipher. Who is absolutely reliable in Imperial Intelligence?" Badesh reached out with the force to examine the Cipher. Her energy signature was strangely organised, probably she was trained to resist force-users.

"Apart from Vector only the Minister and Keeper, my Lord."

"Very well, talk to nobody else about this matter. Dismissed."

Nine bowed curtly and left.

ooOOoo

Badesh was watching how Quinn took readings from Vette's kolto tank. He was leaning against the bedside while Quinn was filling out charts. Badesh had changed his clothes and had taken a shower. He felt very weary – the fight with Jadus had depleted his strength. He tilted his head down and tried to recall the feeling of the pulsing heart in his hand, but instead of invigorating him the thought made him even more tired.

"My Lord? Shall I treat your wounds?" Badesh looked up and saw that Quinn stood in front of him, a kolto-injector already in his hand.

"No, I want to savour the whole fight – even the… unpleasant sides." Feeling the pain from the battle reminded him of the glory of the duel. It also made him calm.

"Yes my Lord," replied Quinn, as professional as always.

"How is Vette?"

"She is going to heal completely, all she needs are a few hours more in the kolto tank. Her lightning burns indicate that she had been attacked by Darth Jadus… may I inquire what exactly happened that he would attack Vette rather than you?" Quinn took a few steps to the tank in which Vette was floating and put his hand on the glass.

"Jadus wanted to kill Cipher, Vette saved her life by shielding her with her body," Badesh curtly explained. He felt oddly reluctant to reveal that he had healed her.

"After all this time she still manages to surprise me," Quinn said in a tender voice. "She is so brave."

Badesh felt an iron grip around his heart as he watched at Quinn caressing the glass of the kolto tank. It was so unlike Quinn to do something so… pointless.

"We should resume our course to Korriban, Quinn. And we have to think about a way to flush out the Revanites in High Command or even the Dark Council."

Quinn turned around and stood in parade rest as he spoke: "Of course, my Lord. Might I suggest that we compile a list with every high-ranking officer and Sith and try to determine whether some of them had acted suspicious?"

"Agreed, I will start with all Dark Council members. You and Vette will examine High Command."

"Yes my Lord," responded Quinn and strode out of the Medbay to start with his work.

Badesh waited for a few seconds and walked slowly towards the kolto tank. He put his hand on the exact same spot as Quinn a few moments ago. He briefly wondered why he had done that, before he finally left as well.


	4. Alone?

Silence surrounded Vette as she finally regained consciousness. It was warm, calm and she felt weightless. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Quinn stood right in front of her. She reached out and was shortly confused that an invisible barrier blocked her hand, but only a moment later Vette realised that she was in a kolto tank. Quinn pushed a few buttons and the liquid kolto was drained from the tank. A few minutes later she stepped out of the tank and removed the respirator.

"How are you feeling?" Quinn asked and handed her a towel to dry herself from the oily kolto.

Vette ignored the offered towel and hugged Quinn, getting his uniform soaked in kolto. "I feel good actually!"

"Vette! My uniform is stained!" he protested.

Vette gave him a quick peck on the mouth and took the towel. She started to rub herself dry and laughed. "You are so adorable when you are indignant!"

"Well… That is hardly the effect I strife for," Quinn retorted.

"And that is why it is adorable! So, what happened? I guess that Badesh defeated Jadus?"

ooOOoo

Korriban was as unhospitable as always. Vette didn't like the constant raining on Dromund Kaas, but it still beat the barren planet which hosted the Sith Academy. She and Quinn followed Badesh to the main building of the Academy through a valley. Acolytes bowed to Badesh as soon as they saw him and stared at Vette with unveiled disgust. She steeled herself against the scrutiny and tried to look as impassive as Quinn who didn't even bat an eye as they passed a dead body lying on the roadside ditch. Vette shuddered and thought back to Kaon – Badesh had sent a force-sensitive nautolan girl to Korriban so that she could be trained in the ways of the dark side.

She accelerated her pace until she walked beside Badesh. "Is there a possibility to check upon Zinna?" she asked quietly.

"Who is Zinna?" Badesh briefly glanced in her direction.

"The girl from Kaon…"

"I didn't know her name," he answered. "And I won't inquire about a mere acolyte – either she will be among the candidates for the apprenticeship or…" Badesh didn't finish the sentence and a few moments they entered the Academy.

An overseer greeted Badesh and led him into the training halls. About twenty acolytes were fighting each other with vibro-blades. A few of them were already bleeding. Vette scanned the room for Zinna and finally saw her in the farthest corner of the room. And for a short moment Zinna and she made eye-contact before Zinna averted her gaze. Vette felt uneasy and wanted to talk to her; perhaps the opportunity would arise after Badesh's address.

"Listen up, scum! Darth Tenebra is looking for an apprentice!" yelled the overseer. The Acolytes turned their attention to Badesh. Vette registered that only a few aliens were among the trainees; most of them were humans or pure-blooded Sith.

Badesh let his gaze wander before he announced the crowd: "In a year from now only a third of you will still be alive – I will choose my apprentice then. Know that I won't reward laziness or weakness and that I will kill everyone who tries to deceive me about their achievements! Dismissed!"

Badesh turned on his heel and left the room. Quinn followed him suit while Vette fell behind so that she could talk to Zinna. The Acolytes passed her on their way out, some of them stared at her with a dismissive grin, but nobody dared to make gamy comments. Finally Zinna had reached her; she was wearing tattered robes and was bleeding from a small cut above her right eye.

"Vette… I didn't believe that I would see you guys again…" began Zinna, she seemed very calm, but her voice betrayed her desperation. "Life here is horrible… these things we are forced to do… is there any chance that you could get me out of here?"

"I'm sorry, Zinna – Badesh refuses to act and I can't do anything about it," she admitted and felt a bang of guilt.

"Move it, scum!" shouted the overseer and Zinna quickly left the room before Vette could say any more.

Vette exited the room as well and saw that Badesh was standing near the main gate and talked to a Sith, judging from his robes he was at least a Lord. She approached them and caught only the last bit of the conversation.

"… as well. I'm sure that we will come to an agreement."

"That remains to be seen, Lord Arkous," replied Badesh coldly.

Arkous bowed and Badesh strode out of the academy, Quinn and Vette followed him.

ooOOoo

Vette groaned at threw the data pad on the table. "At this rate it will take ages to check upon all these guys! Argh! I need another cup of coffee or I won't make it through the next report!"

Quinn's right eyebrow rose and without saying anything he went to the replicator and filled up Vette's mug. He returned to her and handed it to her.

In this moment Badesh walked into the conference room and sat down on the head of the table.

"The members of the Dark Council are secretive as always – even Sith Intelligence isn't able to track their every movement. I'm afraid that reports won't help us to determine their loyalties," Badesh said.

"So, everyone acting all sith-y – perhaps we should ask who is trying to blend in a little bit too much?" replied Vette and took a sip of her coffee.

"My Lord, Vette is perhaps onto something. Lord Arkous is in the sphere of military offense and just a few hours ago he went through the trouble to greet you in the most civil way…" began Quinn.

"…and he even proposed to pool resources to destroy the SIS in a joint operation. In his files is nothing suspicious – he received several commendations and completed every mission in a very satisfactory fashion."

"My Lord, should we place Lord Arkous under surveillance?"

Badesh simply nodded and Quinn left immediately to arrange everything necessary. Badesh glanced at her and left as well. Vette rubbed her temples and continued to read intelligence reports about the Officers in Imperial High Command. Mostly there were only boring account on the daily routine of some Moffs, but the next she took in her hand awakened her interest: It was the file about Grand Moff Rycus Kilran.

Vette had met Kilran on a few occasions and she got the impression that a man like him was too proud and too… imperial to even think about joining some secret cult. No, it wasn't the prospect of finding suspicious actions that made her curious, it was the prospect of learning how he got his burn scars on his face. Vette skimmed through the file until she found the information she was seeking: A few years back a group of Jedis broke into an imperial prison on the outer rim of the known universe – some top-secret facility which was holding members of the infamous Havoc Squad as well as Jedi and traitorous Sith. Kilran tried in vain to stop them from releasing a Jedi prisoner named Narma and was injured by one of the Jedi and almost burned to death before he was saved by… a rodian slave! Was this the reason why he was supporting Darth Malgus' course to let aliens join the imperial navy?

Before she could ponder further on the subject Quinn returned and briefly brushed her arm as he walked by. It was the utmost he would do while on duty. Vette looked at him and smiled. He kept his upper stiff lip and simply sat down next to her and began to read. It was sometimes hard to believe that she had really fallen in love with someone as… rigid and up-tight as Quinn. But since the first day she had felt a warm coil in her stomach every time she looked at him. Vette leaned toward him and kissed Quinn on his cheek, he looked at her with an almost bewildered expression on his face. Then he smiled at her and turned his attention back to his report.

ooOOoo

In the following weeks and months routine began to set in – Vette and Quinn would read all surveillance reports concerning Imperial High Command and brief Badesh on any suspicious activity. Although they uncovered several cases of bribery and embezzlement there were no news about the Revanites.

Badesh grew more and more restless. Vette had noted that he had started to participate in interrogations and the way he appeared calmer after he returned to them led her to believe that he was acting out his blood-lust by torturing and killing prisoners. Despite his kindness towards her and Quinn she sometimes felt scared – she considered Badesh her friend but she simply couldn't understand his violent outbursts.

After what felt like a particularly long day in office Vette had taken a long shower and was on her way to her room in Badesh's penthouse in Kaas City. When she walked towards the staircase she heard the hissing of the door. Badesh entered and walked towards her, she stopped and simply stared at him: his robes were bloodied and there was a strange smell coming from him – it reminded her of chloride. He also stopped and looked at her a while before he reached up put his hood down and removed his mask. Vette was taken aback by the harrowing look on his face – usually he displayed nothing of this sort.

"Are… are you alright?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied with a raspy voice.

"Well… what happened?"

"There was this prisoner – a suspect – and I interrogated him to discern whether he was a defeatist. It seems that he had made fun of the Emperor in a cantina… and I broke him." Badesh sat down on a step of the staircase. "Killing is usually very gratifying; sometimes my skin… it is too tight… I feel like I have to rip it from by bones. Seeing blood is calming me down. But today…"

Vette didn't know what to say; Badesh was blood-thirsty and he had mentioned on several occasions that he enjoyed killing and maiming people… but the bluntness of his words left her speechless.

"What am I going to do if even this doesn't help anymore?" he asked and buried his face in his hands.

Vette remembered something Badesh had said once when they were in the cantina on the Imperial Fleet: There were only two occasions in which he was calm; after he had killed and in the company of her and Quinn. She had to reach out to him… She knotted her hands together, unsure whether it was the right thing to do. Finally she overcame her hesitation and stepped towards Badesh who still sat on the step and put her hands on his cheek and guided him down until his face rested on her shoulder and stroked over his black hair. He let it happen and finally put his arms around her.

They remained still for almost a minute before Badesh pulled back and looked at her with a solemn expression on his face.

"Vette, I know… it's not easy for you…"

"Anytime, Quinn and I are your friends, you know that, don't you?" Vette registered that her white bath robe had now small blood-stains from Badesh on it, but she tried her best to ignore them.

"Does Quinn… do you think…" stammered Badesh and averted his gaze, unable to finish the sentence.

She knew what Badesh wanted to ask. Vette had witnessed how he had kissed Quinn after a quite excessive victory celebration on the _Fury_. Quinn had been out cold, and only then the Sith had found the courage to act on his feelings.

"I'm certain that he likes you, Badesh…"

He stood up and smiled sadly at her. "Then I will take your word for it…" Badesh turned around and climbed the stairs to the upper level.

Vette threw a glance at him as he vanished out of her sight and asked herself what exactly Quinn's feelings towards Badesh were. He certainly had the utmost respect for Badesh, but did he really like him like she did? She walked up the stairs and headed towards Quinn's quarters. Without knocking she entered and let herself fall on his bed. Quinn sat at his desk as usual and wrote a report. He typed for about a minute, put down the data pad and joined Vette on the bed, he groaned as he lay down.

"Sergeant, as your superior I order you to massage my shoulders," Quinn mumbled and turned on his stomach.

"Anything for the Empire, sir" Vette replied and started to rub his tense muscles. "Sometimes I wonder, how did you survive without my tender care?"

"Kolto oil," answered Quinn muffled as he was lying face down on the bed.

"Uh, that sound nice – tell me more! So you rubbed your lean-muscled, naked body with oil, did you? Now that is a picture to dream of…"

Quinn chuckled. "You're so weird, Vette."

"Speaking of weird… do you like Badesh?" she asked boldly.

"That is a strange question," he replied and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Uh… just answer the question."

"Yes, I do – I respect and admire him greatly as…"

"No no, do you like him on a personal level?"

Quinn frowned at her and sat up. "I… I think it is unprofessional to consider our relationship as anything more than…"

"Gee, you're evading again – just tell me whether you consider him a friend!"

"Yes, I do."

"There! Was it so difficult?"

"I thought you were asking if I found him attractive on a sexual level," Quinn retorted smoothly without batting an eye.

Now it was Vette's turn to stare at him. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? "What? No… I mean – do you find him attractive?"

He blushed and averted his gaze. "Yes, I do – don't you?"

"Hm… well, yes," Vette stammered, she was quite sure that her face reddened as well. "That is easily the most awkward conversation we ever had…"

"Indeed." Quinn lay down on the bed again and Vette continued to massage him.


	5. Underwater

Darth Jadus' heart was well preserved: Every vein and artery was clearly visible in the transparent casing it was in. Badesh stared at it and thought that it would be much more satisfying if it still had a pulse. Should he ask Quinn to install a pacemaker? His thoughts lingered a little longer on the possibilities to make the heart look more 'alive', then Badesh lowered his sight and continued reading the newest report on the Revanites.

There were hardly any new facts or occurrences about the cult. A mixture of anger and disappointment washed over Badesh and he glanced once again at the heart on his desk. He sighted and took Quinn's report on Lord Arkous activities. It appeared that he remained as unsuspicious as ever… but then he saw a note that Vette had inserted on one of his trips to the core worlds: "Official reason: Meeting with the commander of the 106th naval division. But said Commander was on the same time as Arkous on the Imperial Fleet. Why would they travel to Manaan to meet up?"

Right below Vette's comment Quinn had inserted another: "Arkous travelled five times to Manaan in the last year, three times on official business, two times secretly cf. file 13434984933507034II."

This was strange indeed, why would Arkous who was involved in military offence visit the homeworld of kolto? He skimmed through Arkous' schedule and saw that he was about to make another trip to Manaan in a few days. Somebody had to shadow him.

Badesh activated his personal holocomm and called Keeper. As soon as her small bluish figure appeared he asked: "Keeper, I have an assignment for Cipher Nine. Is she available?"

"No, my Lord. She is currently on an important mission on Coruscant and can't be recalled at this moment – unless you insist of course."

"No, I don't – I will see the mission through personally. If you don't hear from me or my associates within two weeks… assume that we have been killed."

Keeper bowed. "Yes, my Lord."

Badesh ended the call and signalled Vette and Quinn to meet with him on the _Fury_.

ooOOoo

It was fairly easy to follow Lord Arkous on Manaan. He met with official representatives of the manaanian government and attended a conference on weaponised kolto.

Vette sighted. "There is nothing secretive about all this stuff. Perhaps we were too paranoid." She stood on a small balcony and pretended to watch the local wildlife. From time to time she glanced at Arkous who talked to a few natives on the plaza.

"Stay sharp," Quinn's voice sounded slightly distorted in Badesh's earpiece. Quinn observed Arkous from the nearby park.

"I feel something about Arkous… he is focusing his energy. Relax and think about something neutral – he is scanning the vicinity with the force." Badesh had spoken quickly and smothered his force signature as quickly as he could. He had anticipated that Arkous would take precautions before he unveiled his true intentions on Manaan. Badesh had instructed Quinn and Vette to train their minds to quickly focus on something unsuspecting. Most force users could sense aggression or other strong emotions, but not mild feelings.

Badesh stood in a data pad shop on the promenade; he didn't see Arkous but he felt his force signature. His prey was moving to the harbour. Manaan was a water-world and the natives normally lived under the water. Most of the infrastructure was hidden in the gigantic ocean that was covering almost 90% of the planet. Badesh glanced at his holomap of Manaan and activated his microphone.

"He is heading to pier 207, we will meet there."

Badesh was the first to reach the location and approached a selkath worker who attended to the small submarines which were used to reach the underwater structures.

"An U-boat left from this pier a few minutes ago – where is it headed?" Badesh demanded to know.

The selkath female blinked a few times and answered in the slurred speech of the natives: "I'm sorry, sir. I am not at liberty to reveal the destination of said boat."

Badesh heard footsteps behind him, Vette and Quinn had arrived. They had no time to loose. Badesh closed his eyes and focused on the worker, then he opened them and stared directly in the black eyes of the Selkath. "You want to tell me where the boat went!" He disliked this course of action but sometimes force persuasion was very efficient even when he usually preferred a more violet solution.

"I want to tell you where the boat went… It's destination is laboratory K," replied the worker with a monotone voice.

Badesh continued to stare at her and intensified his focus. "Prepare a boat for us – and program it for laboratory K."

Green blood started to run from her nostrils. "Yes, of course. I will program a boat for you." Badesh was amazed. It was the first time that his force persuasion had caused somebody to bleed. It was truly satisfying. He wondered what would happen if he… but there was no time. He gestured the worker to get to work, she started to prepare everything.

"That was impressive, my Lord," said Quinn with one raised eyebrow. Badesh allowed himself a smile, his mask did hide his face. He registered that Vette had a concerned expression on her face; she clearly was unsettled by this display of power.

"So, uh, you don't have to cut somebody with you lightsaber in half, you can also fry their brain?"

"Of course, but it only works on the weak-minded," Badesh simply replied. Sometimes he couldn't understand why Vette stated the obvious.

The worker returned. "The boat is ready, sir."

Badesh nodded and they entered the submarine. It was very small, but also very fast. Within minutes they had dived so deep that the water was pitch-dark. Suddenly the boat slowed down and docked on a station; the door slid open and they left the submarine and stepped into a medical facility. The bright light almost blinded Badesh, but after mere moments his eyes adjusted to it. Then he reached out to Arkous' force signature and found it a few hundred metres away.

Badesh dimmed his own force signature and slowly walked into the direction in which he assumed the Lord was. They crossed several hallways; it was very suspicious: There were no workers, the laboratory seemed abandoned. The smell of kolto and sea-water hung in the air. Badesh heard muffled voices and lifted his hand to signal his companions to stay back. He advanced forward and stopped finally in front of a door. There was no doubt, Arkous was in there and he was talking to someone. He recognized two other voices, one of them was a Selkath… and the other sounded republican.

"…progress is good, Arkous," said a deep male voice with a republican accent.

"I always deliver what I promise." The Selkath sounded upset.

"Of course you do, doctor." Arkous sounded as jovial as always.

"We should inform Re…" begun the man with the republic accent, but he was interrupted by Arkous before he could finish the sentence.

"Somebody is here… I sense three faint force signatures nearby," gone was the friendly tone, Arkous sounded angry.

Badesh was surprised that Arkous could sense him and his companions, he had clearly underestimated him. There was no point in waiting any longer – he had to confront them. Badesh pushed the button at the door and entered the room as the door slid open. Footsteps behind him indicated that Vette and Quinn had caught up.

A Selkath, Arkous and a man wearing a republic uniform stood in the laboratory.

"Arkous, we should kill the Sith before he disturbs our plans," suggested the republican soldier – his rank insignia indicated that he was a Colonel.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, my friend," the jovial intonation had returned to Arkous voice. "May I introduce one of the most powerful Sith in the whole Empire. There is no need for us to try to defeat him, we can't win against him."

"Explain you intentions a once, Arkous – or I will cut bloody pieces from you until you yield!" growled Badesh.

"You don't understand, the Colonel and I are mere pawns and we have to stop you – even if it costs us our lives and this laboratory," replied Arkous and took a small device from a pocket in his robes.

"My Lord! It's a detonator!" yelled Quinn.

Badesh drew his lightsaber and threw it at Arkous, but when the blade severed Arkous' hand from his arm it was already too late; an ear-deafening explosion shook the laboratory. A quick look at the ceiling showed Badesh that small cracks were spreading through the infrastructure. The whole infrastructure was about to collapse.

"I was an honour, Lord Arkous" said the Colonel quietly, drew his blaster and shot the Selkath and then himself in the head.

Badesh leaped at the remaining opponent to prevent him from committing suicide, but just as he was about to reach him Arkous had pulled with his left hand his lightsaber from his belt and had impaled himself on it. Arkous was dead before he even fell on the floor.

Badesh howled in frustration and ripped Arkous left arm out of its socket and threw it against a computer console in the middle of the room. Then he forced himself to calm down.

"Quinn, how much time do we have?" he asked as he turned around to face his companions.

"The walls will collapse in less than two minutes – we have to get out!"

"Damn!" muttered Badesh under his breath and they started to run towards their submarine. But they were stopped at the door: it was on emergency lockdown.

"Stand aside!" yelled Badesh and tried to force-push the door away, it buckled but didn't open. He focused again and finally pushed the door out of its angles. From the corner of his eyes Badesh saw how water started to run from the small cracks in the walls. Within moments they reached the next door, it was also on lock-down.

Badesh channelled all his anger into one mighty force push and blew the door away. Unfortunately the force blast also caused the cracks to spread further. Badesh glanced at Vette, she was terrified. Quinn looked equally scared and the very sight made Badesh even angrier. He had to get them to safety! They rushed down the hallway, the water was already knee-deep. Suddenly a contact noise rang out, a scrambled voice was heard. It got clearer and a male voice with a republican accent spoke: "To the survivors of laboratory K: I will attempt to open the next blast doors, stand ready!"

Vette reacted with incredible presence of mind. She ran to the nearest commstation and pushed the reply-button. "Please help us! Some red-skinned man set off explosives! Me and my co-workers just want to get out!"

"Don't bother, sweetheart," retorted the man, "I know that you're Imperials; but guess what… I will help you anyway." Badesh was confused, how could he know that they were Imperials? And how could he slice the computer so quickly to open up all blast-doors?

But true to his word all the doors slid open, Vette, Quinn and Badesh rushed to their submarine and managed to get in just before the water came crushing down on them.

"What was too close for comfort!" sighed Vette and let herself fall on one of the seats.

"The auto-pilot has engaged, my Lord. I assume that the U-boat will take us back to the pier," said Quinn smoothly, but as Badesh looked at him he saw that Quinn was paler than usual.

To Badesh's surprise the commsystem activated itself and the voice from before rang out: "We should meet up; it seems that we have common interests. I will be in the cantina on the orbital station in an hour."

Badesh was intrigued about the development, but he was also distrustful. It couldn't be a trap, otherwise the man wouldn't have helped them. But he was clearly someone who was aware of the Revanites.

ooOOoo

Exactly one hour later Badesh, Vette and Quinn stepped into the cantina. It was quite full and they slowly moved through the masses to an empty booth in the back. The smell of cheap alcohol and sweat disgusted Badesh, a customer vomited on the floor as they passed. It was truly a sleazy place.

As soon as they sat down Quinn pulled a small scanner from his utility belt and made a quick sweep for bugs.

"We are clear," Quinn whispered.

Vette waved the waiter, a male Twi'lek, over and gave him 100 Credits. "Two beer and your best whiskey please – and we don't want to be disturbed."

A few minutes later the waiter brought the beverages. Quinn looked at his beer with a frown.

"My Lord, the hygiene standards in this cantina are way below average… I don't recommend drinking whatever brewage the waiter has brought us."

"You're just too picky, Quinn. I've been in cantinas that were way worse!" exclaimed Vette.

Badesh smiled behind his mask but didn't say anything. He wouldn't remove his mask in public anyway to drink his whiskey.

The conversation died down and all three of them scanned the vicinity with their eyes. A quarter an hour after they had sat down a tall human male with brown hair and a red leather jacket stood up from one of the tables next to them and casually strolled over. As he drew closer Badesh saw that he had unfamiliar implants on the left side of his temple. Badesh reached out through the force and was surprised to find a very faint, strangely familiar resonance. The man's force signature reminded him also of Quinn… so ordered and focused.

"May I join you?" asked the man calmly and sat down next to Vette before they could answer.

Badesh didn't say a word, he just stared at the man.

"It seems that we owe you our lives, you have our gratitude," began Quinn. "Am I assuming correctly that you don't work for the Empire?"

The man leaned back and smiled a little. "You are correct… Officer. You know, you may be out of your uniform, but one look at your well-polished boots tells me that you're imperial military. I could eat breakfast off these things."

"And who are you, Mr. Expert-Slicer?" asked Vette and smiled. Badesh sensed that she was very focused, her friendly attitude masked how alert she was.

"Me? I'm just a disavowed SIS-Agent who asked dangerous questions – the name is Theron. And who are you guys?"

"Do you expect us to believe that you don't know who we are?" replied Quinn smoothly. "Didn't you track us?"

Theron eyed Badesh. "Your boss isn't a talker, is he? Well, I tracked Colonel Darok to Manaan and sliced into the lab to check out that one of the most decorated war heroes of the Republic was up to. As suspected he was indeed a Revanite."

"What do you know about the Revanites?" inquired Badesh and leaned forward. At the same time he tried to probe Theron's mind, but something blocked him out.

"Enough to save a couple of Imps who are apparently dangerous enough to trigger a full-blown Sith Lord to commit suicide just to take them with him. Look, I don't want to beat around the bush; we both know that these guys are bad news. I became aware of them a year ago and it took them only a couple of weeks to brand me as a traitor and lunatic. We are talking about the highest ranks of the Republic intelligence and military. And my guess is that the Empire is equally compromised."

"Maybe," retorted Badesh curtly.

"Aw, come on – let's lay all the cards on the table! I was a top-agent of the SIS and I'm desperate enough to talk to a fucking Sith about my secret mission!"

"Watch your tone," growled Badesh, a surge of anger boiled up in him.

"Okay, look… I will give you my whole intel. You don't have to trust me, trust the evidence."

Quinn's eyebrow rose. "You would give us your intel without striking a deal first? That's highly unusual."

Theron frowned. "You wouldn't honour our deal anyway, why waste time with it? But I know you Imps, you're ruthless and you will wipe out every last Revanite, even whole planets if you have to. And perhaps it is the only way to save the galaxy!"


	6. Kalda Biss

Vette stared at Theron incredulously. "Seriously? You want _us_ to save the galaxy?" Never in a million years she would have thought she would hear that someone even muttered these words into the direction of Badesh.

"I never thought that the SIS was prone to exaggeration," remarked Quinn dryly. Vette had to hold back a smile.

"Just wait until you see my intel…" Theron said and rose to his feet. "My ship is docked nearby, my associate won't be happy, but we are seriously outnumbered and need every help we can get – even if it is from f… from Imps."

Vette glanced at Badesh, he stood up after a moment and stepped right in front of Theron. The Agent was about a head smaller than Badesh and Vette wasn't surprised that Badesh chose to intimidate Theron.

"Very well, but know this… I will kill you in a most satisfying fashion should you attempt to deceive us."

Theron held up pretty well in face of a very, very scary Sith and simply nodded. Vette wondered who this associate Theron was talking about was – another SIS-Agent? She briefly exchanged glances with Quinn who subtly gestured her to walk in Theron's blind spot as they moved through the masses in the cantina. He led them quickly away from the main promenade to a small hangar on the north-western corner of the orbital station. Vette kept Theron under close observation. Her gut told her to trust him, his strange reasoning made sense to her – Badesh would indeed do everything in his power to kill the Revanites.

Finally they walked into the hanger and approached a XS stock light freighter. Theron opened the hatch and stepped into the starship, followed by Badesh, Quinn and Vette.

"Kalda?" called Theron, Vette registered that he had tensed up and moved her right hand slowly to her blaster.

"What is…" responded a female voice and a second later a Togruta woman stepped into the hallway. Within a fraction of a second her face screwed up in anger and she drew her blaster and fired a series of shots at Badesh who deflected the bolts with ease before force-choking the woman.

"Stop it!" yelled Theron and drew his own blaster. But Quinn was quicker and held the muzzle of his blaster to Theron's head.

Vette knew that she had to stop Badesh before he got into a frenzy. She approached him and touched his right upper arm softly. He jerked his head towards her and let the Togruta go. She fell on the floor and Vette picked up her blaster.

"A Sith… Theron… are you insane?" Kalda asked with a coarse voice, a large dark bruise was forming on her purple neck.

Quinn lowered his blaster and Theron rushed to Kalda, but she pushed him away.

"Filthy traitor! Don't touch me!"

Theron lifted his hands in the air and said with a low voice: "I'm sorry, but I believe that we need their help – I know that you don't agree, but it is out of our hands now." He turned around to Badesh. "I will give you access to our files, follow me."

"Vette, Quinn – guard her," commanded Badesh and left with Theron.

Vette looked at Kalda who was still lying on the ground, holding her throat. She knew that Kalda would have killed the lot of them if she had the chance, but she felt nevertheless sorry for her. Before she could decide whether she should make awkward conversation with her or not, Theron returned.

"Your boss is asking for both of you," he said and kneeled next to Kalda who stared at him with utter distain. They left Theron and Kalda and joined Badesh in the middle of the ship; he was standing in front of a computer station and was loading data on data pads. Wordlessly he handed each of them a pad and they started reading.

ooOOoo

"It seems that the Republic is even more undermined than the Empire," stated Quinn after an hour.

"Yeah, at least according to Theron's files – but it could also mean that he's got just more intel than we," said Vette and yawned.

"We still have more reading to do." Badesh's voice indicated that he was also weary.

"What about a cup of coffee?" asked Vette and started to look around. "I will ask Theron about a replicator…"

Without waiting for a response she walked to the exit of the ship. Vette was a little surprised to see Theron as well as Kalda sitting right where they had left them. Both of them looked miserable. Kalda shot Vette a nasty look.

"Are you finished?" she spat.

Vette decided that she didn't want to be apologetic and ignored Kalda's question. "Is there a replicator somewhere? We still have a lot of reading to do and a cup of coffee would be nice."

Theron nodded. "Sure, I will show you…"

"Will you now? I hope you offer them also some cookies!" sneered Kalda.

Vette walked straight in front of Kalda and put her hands on her hips. "Listen, I know it sucks, but we are here now. Let's make the best of it, okay? I'm Vette, evil minion of an even eviler Sith Lord – who are you?"

Kalda was taken aback by Vette's joke, but finally she hesitantly answered: "I'm Kalda."

Theron scratched the back of his head and smiled a little. "Nice to meet you, evil minion, I'm Theron."

"So, since we are all acquainted now – where is the coffee?" inquired Vette and made an effort to smile at Theron and Kalda even though she wasn't entirely sure that Badesh wouldn't kill them at the end of the day.

Vette was about to replicate the third and last cup of coffee, when she caught a look at Kalda's neck, the bruise had turned even darker, it had to be painful.

Kalda registered Vette's glance and turned to Theron. "Could you get me some kolto?"

"Uh, sure…," he replied and left the small mess hall.

"So, we are alone," began Vette, "do you want to ask or should I just answer?"

"I guess you had to explain more than once, huh?" Kalda leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. "Are you going to give me a straight answer?"

Vette put the last cup on a salver. "Sure, why not? Long story short – slave meets decent guys and decided to stay with them. Questions?"

"Do you expect me to believe that a Sith could actually be _decent_?"

"You really do hate Imperials, don't you?"

"Of course, they killed and tortured countless innocent victims."

Vette smiled. "And here I thought that victims are always innocent."

"I don't care for semantics! How can you serve the Empire?" Kalda was visibly agitated and started pacing back and forth.

"Surely you know that the galaxy isn't black and white… it sure is fucked-up for people like us, but it is grey. I learned a long time ago that I can't rely on anybody but myself, I learned that nobody cares about a lowly Twi'lek. And guess what? I was disabused: There were actually people who came looking for me when I was in trouble." Vette got riled up as she thought about the _Goldstar_ on Nar Shadaa. She continued with a firm voice. "In a perfect galaxy a dashing and sympathetic republican officer and a saint-like Jedi would have come to the rescue of the damsel in distress. But in the real world there were only a stuck-up, xenophobic imperial officer and a bloodthirsty, crazy Sith who stood up for a loud-mouthed thief. They came for me. And that's more than I can say for all the republican soldiers and Jedi I have ever met."

Kalda had stopped her pacing and stared at her. Vette felt that she had gotten too emotional and cleared her throat. "Well, I don't presume to know what you have been through – but I hope you understand my point."

"I think the coffee has gotten cold," Kalda retorted in a mild voice.

Vette looked down on the three cups on the salver, they were indeed no longer steaming.

"Crap, here we go again," she said and pushed a few buttons on the replimat.

Theron returned with kolto gel but before he could apply the content of the tube on Kalda's neck Quinn stepped into the mess hall. Vette smiled as she saw him, prim and proper as always he snapped almost into parade rest as soon as he stopped walking.

"Vette, is everything alright?" he asked with his usual slightly arrogant intonation.

"Yeah, I just chatted with Kalda and the coffee got cold," she replied and poured the cold beverages in the sink.

Quinn eyed Theron and Kalda. "I don't recommend the use of kolto gel on this particular injury."

"Really?" asked Kalda, her voice oozed with sarcasm. "Don't you mean that you don't recommend wasting perfectly good kolto on an alien?"

Quinn looked at her coldly. "Suit yourself."

"You should let Quinn take a look at your neck, Kalda, he is a medic." This comment caused both Kalda and Quinn to look at Vette with alarmed expressions on their face.

"Great idea! I have no idea what I'm doing anyway!" exclaimed Theron and simply shoved the kolto gel in Quinn's hands.

"… as you wish," sighted Quinn and stepped closer to Kalda while putting the gel on the table and pulling his own kolto injector from his utility belt. "Kolto _gel_ isn't the optimal treatment for subcutaneous injuries. It would only heal superficially and could lead to a hematoma. An injection is far more effective."

Kalda had a tense expression written on her face as Quinn touched her skin and applied kolto with the injector. Soon she relaxed a bit and when Quinn finally had ended his treatment she cautiously touched her neck and said quietly: "Thanks."

"You're welcome," replied Quinn stiffly.

Vette had finally replicated the last cup of coffee and took the salver up. "Let's go – we still have a lot of reading to do."

"Indeed", Quinn curtly replied and followed her to the conference room.

Another few hours later Theron and Kalda joined them. Theron walked in and sat down on one of the chairs across from Badesh while Kalda lingered at the doorway.

"So, did you ascertain what I have told you?"

Vette was a little bit surprised that Quinn hadn't interrupted Theron and hadn't told him to call Badesh by his title. It seemed that he was uncertain whether he should disclose Badesh's identity.

Badesh put his data pad slowly down. "It seems that you were correct, the magnitude of the conspiracy suggests that the leader of the Revanites is indeed planning to change the course of galactic history. Nobody gathers that kind of power and doesn't use it. But it still seems a little peculiar for a former SIS-Agent to turn to the Empire for… hm, help."

Theron leaned forward and put both his hand on the table. "There is some knowledge that is too precious to be lost – I would rather share it with the enemy than to let it go to waste. At the start we were a whole team trying to stop the Revanites. But we had casualties, a very skilled assassin is on our tail and has already killed four of us. It's only a question of time before Kalda or I are next."

"You are still maintaining that you didn't shadow us but rather Colonel Darok?" asked Quinn.

"Yes, I am," replied Theron. "I don't have any idea who you are – so perhaps introductions are in order."

"What?" shouted Kalda. "You just picked up some random Imperials and told them everything? Are you crazy?"

Vette observed how Theron flinched a little bit, either they were the best actors she had ever seen or they were genuine…

Theron stayed calm. "Yeah, random Imperials who followed Arkous into an underwater laboratory and scared him enough that he didn't even put up a fight before he tried to kill them by blowing everything – himself included – up. We are talking about a veteran Sith Lord who decided that he couldn't go up against this guy." He nodded towards Badesh.

Kalda looked at Badesh with a certain amount of respect, but remained silent.

"So, as already stated – introductions are in order. I'm Theron Heian, my partner here is Kalda Biss. We were both working for the SIS before the Revanites fabricated fake evidence that we were double-agents… which is quite ironic considering our current course of action."

Kalda snorted and shot Theron a nasty look.

Badesh stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. Vette secretly called this stance Badesh's Sith-posture, he usually never stood like that unless he wanted to impress somebody with his presence and height.

"You may call me Lord Badesh, I'm an apprentice to Darth Baras, the head of Sith Intelligence. These are my associates, Major Malavai Quinn and Sergeant Ce'na."

"I thought you said that your name was Vette," said Kalda and eyed Vette.

"It is, Ce'na is my given name but I'm called Vette." She smiled at the other woman in an effort to show that she was sincere.

"Alright, now that is taken care of… What is your next step?" asked Theron.

To Vette's surprise Badesh answered, she had anticipated that he wouldn't share his plans with the former SIS-agents.

"We will try to find out where Arkous was headed after his meeting and what the selkath scientist was working on."

"My Lord, if I may," Quinn activated the holo display on the middle of the conference table and the picture of the scientist appeared. "His name is Dr. Ahto Hyoki, an expert on biological warfare. Although he is known for his work on developing a particular resistant strain of the jiridian plague I suspect that he was working on poison gas in his laboratory."

Theron looked at him in awe. "When did you find out about him? And how do you know that he was working on poison gas?"

Quinn looked at him in a haughty fashion. "I wrote a program to cross-reference our information and inserted new information while reading your files. It turned out that the company that owns the laboratory belongs to Hyoki's family. And I registered back in the laboratory that Hyoki wasn't equipped for research for viruses. Instead of amtomiscopes he had actuators usually used when working on gaseous elements."

Vette smiled at Quinn, he was as rigid as ever, but once he had admitted to her that he actually enjoyed himself when being able to 'establish the superiority of the imperial mind'. Of course she had made fun of him because of his pompous talk, but she now discovered that she actually loved it when he was his usual smooth self. It was so very Quinn that she wanted to kiss him.

"I assume that you arrived at the same conclusion when you sliced into the system, Agent," continued Quinn and frowned at Theron.

"I did," answered Theron shortly. He stared at Quinn before speaking on. "I was merely surprised how quickly you gathered the information, Major. It wasn't my intention to keep this intel from you. Kalda, what have you found out?"

Kalda was obviously reluctant to share the information and she kept glancing at Badesh. "The data Theron relayed to me suggests that Hyoki planned to ship cargo to two locations: Korriban and Tython. There is a high possibility that the plan was to use the gas to kill as much force-sensitives as possible. It is unclear however when this should've happened. The trouble is that we can't know whether the Revanites have a back-up plan for their little genocide."


	7. A Plan

Badesh was taken aback by this new piece of information. The Revanites were even more dangerous that he had thought. And they obviously had the means to seriously cripple the Empire. They were actually bold enough to try to attack the core of the Sith Empire. He briefly lingered on the cowardly way they intended to kill millions, if not billions; it angered him that they wouldn't even put up a real fight. At the same time he felt a tingling sensation when he pictured how corpses literally littered the streets…

Badesh stopped his train of thought instantly. He glanced at Quinn, who stood in parade rest next to him. What would Quinn think of him when he knew that he got excited about a pile of corpses? Badesh saw from the corner of his eye that Vette looked worried. And before he could stop himself he pictured again thousands of corpses lying on the red sand of Korriban, Vette and Quinn amongst them…

Hot, raw fury boiled up in him and Badesh felt the immediate urge to hurt somebody, he briefly thought about the Togruta but in the last moment he directed his focus at the conference table and it began to shake and deform. After a few seconds he heard Quinn's voice.

"My Lord?"

It had a soothing effect on Badesh, his anger diminished and he realised that Quinn was touching him slightly at his elbow. An affectionate feeling washed over Badesh as he felt the other man's touch and saw concern on Quinn's usually impassive face. Badesh's remaining fury vanished and he smiled at Quinn. Then he lifted his sight to Vette, she had also stepped to him and stood right in front of him. She was almost two heads shorter than him, but seeing her and feeling Quinn made him feel… certain.

"What the fuck was that?" whispered Theron, he was visibly pale.

Badesh realised that he had lost control over his powers and decided to hide this fact.

"Anger – to think that this scum had the gall to attack the Sith academy," he replied coldly. Quinn let go of him and Badesh regretted instantly losing his touch. Badesh glanced at Kalda, she didn't look nearly as shaken as Theron. It was strange, why would the senior SIS-Agent who certainly had seen his share of force-users be shocked about this little incident?

"Let's get back to the task at hand," said Kalda and looked at the demolished table with a hardened gaze. "Before the Sith decides to take apart our whole ship."

"You will address Lord Badesh with his proper title!" Quinn glared at her.

Before Kalda could reply, Vette intervened. "We should all calm down, there is no need to get all worked up – it is enough if one table needs replacement, if we wreck the chairs as well it's getting expensive!"

A frosty silence fell upon them before Theron cleared his throat. "Right, the question is what we will do next? All our traces have gone cold, we are in the dark again."

"Not entirely," frowned Kalda, "there is one thing we know for certain: The Revanites are still trying to kill us. Perhaps it is time to set a trap for the assassin and see whether they know anything about their client."

"It's a long shot," retorted Quinn. "There is a high probability that the assassin was hired anonymously."

"It's also dangerous, if the assassin has already killed four of your team…" Vette looked from Kalda to Theron. "I think we should focus on gathering more information. If we work from the imperial side and you guys cover the republic side we should come up with something."

"My Lord, I suggest that we explore both avenues. If we leak information about the agents' current position through the imperial intelligence network we might find another Revanite spy. We could monitor who accesses the information and search through Lord Arkous files at the same time."

"I can't believe that I'm actually concurring with an Imperial, but he is right," Kalda crossed her arms. "It's our best shot to get to the core of the business."

"That's simply reckless, Kalda, if the assassin finds us we still have to capture them. Back when we had a real team that might have worked, but the risk is too high now," objected Theron.

Badesh thought about the appropriate course of action. It was true that the SIS-agents were undermanned and if the assassin was really as good as they suggested they wouldn't survive another encounter with them. On the other hand the assassin could provide information, however little… And it might be rewarding to keep an eye on Theron and Kalda, they had gathered substantial intel with very little resources.

He briefly toyed with the thought of letting Vette and Quinn stay, but he discarded that idea. Should the SIS-agents decide to fight his companions they would have the advantage on their ship. No, there was only one way to make sure that the assassin would be apprehended.

"I have made my decision," Badesh declared. "We will follow Quinn's suggestion. It is true however that the assassin might succeed and gets away with the deed; therefore I will stay here while Vette and Quinn leak the information and trace whoever accesses the file about your whereabouts."

Badesh didn't miss the surprised looks from Quinn and Vette, but both nodded and said in unison: "Yes, my Lord."

"What?" asked Kalda, then she turned to Theron and hissed: "When this is all over I will kick your ass! If we survive that is!"

Badesh reached out through the force and took in the sweet anger from the Togruta, her force signature was also blistering with sour fear. She was scared, scared because of him and the thought gave him satisfaction. When he touched Theron's force signature he was once more fascinated how focused and… neat it was. Theron's emotions were harder to read, it seemed as if he was trained to withstand a force-user. And there was again this familiarity with his force signature, had they met?

"Vette, Quinn – with me," said Badesh curtly and accompanied them to the ship's exit.

"My Lord, may I speak freely?" asked Quinn. Badesh had already anticipated his question and felt lo… a hot feeling spreading in his chest as he gestured his second-in-command to speak.

"I advise against this course of action, Vette and I should stay behind. You are too important to remain here." Quinn had spoken quietly and looked Badesh straight in the eye.

Badesh felt how Quinn's force signature burned brightly; Quinn's concern made him content. By the force, he had indeed grown weak! He… he was smitten by Quinn, and it disquieted him that his feelings hadn't diminished since he first met him on Balmorra.

"I'm with Quinn on this," whispered Vette, "we don't know how long it will take until the assassin shows up. Are you really willing to stay for weeks on this rust-bucket?"

Her energy was as bright and inviting as always. Badesh liked reaching out to her, it reminded him of a safe haven in a storm. Strangely enough Badesh enjoyed touching her calm and blissful emotions.

"I know, but we don't know anything about the extent of the conspiracy and I trust that I can defend myself against everything the Revanites throw at me," Badesh replied. He didn't say that he wanted to keep them safe, speaking of these things always embarrassed him. It reminded him that he relied on Vette and Quinn more than a Sith should. "You know what to do – inform the Minister and Cipher Nine. And send me Theron's and Kalda's files as soon as possible."

"Yes, my Lord," they both answered and exited the ship.

ooOOoo

When Badesh returned to the conference room he found Theron and Kalda in a heated argument that died down as soon as he entered. He paid them no attention and simply grabbed a data pad and continued reading various intelligence reports.

After a few moments Theron as well as Kalda left, Badesh reached out through the force and kept track of their movements in the ship, but kept on reading.

An hour later he received a message from Quinn on his personal data pad. Of course Vette and he had already put everything in motion. Attached to the message were the files from Imperial Intelligence on the SIS-Agents.

Kalda Biss was apparently recruited on Nar Shadaa and had served the SIS at least for five years. She was obviously of little interest to Imperial Intelligence, since there were hardly any information besides that she had managed to capture an Imperial Commander named Nostan Vergost who had run several programs to exterminate aliens from imperial controlled planets. An analyst had added a comment: "Biss is a typical alien agent of the Republic, enraged by so-called imperial war atrocities she is fiercely loyal to the SIS and republic ideology. Experience suggests that such agents cannot be compromised with, since they follow their own moral rules and distrust everybody aligned with the Empire."

Badesh wasn't particularly surprised, the file only confirmed his own assessment. He began reading Theron's file. He was a senior agent of the SIS and had successfully completed several top secret missions. Interestingly enough there was no clue when or why Theron Heian had joined the republic intelligence agency. His fast-tracked career from his first notable appearance until he was promoted field commander suggested that he came with the highest recommendations. The summary showed that the imperial analysts were predicting that Theron would rise far in the SIS, due to his track record of mastering even the most difficult missions. Badesh was disappointed, he had hoped that the file would provide him with more substantial information. There was something strange about Theron, he knew it, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps he should try to read his mind in a more aggressive manner?

But before he could make up his mind he saw that Quinn had put a comment in Theron's file: "Possible cybernetic discretion implants to prevent mind-reading and setting a high pain-tolerance in case of torture; model seen on Heian's temple is not recorded in imperial data banks. If it is indeed the next generation of cybernetic defences against force persuasion or mind-reading it would be possible that Heian would register any attempt to interfere with his mind."

Diligent as ever, Badesh thought and recalled Quinn's touch from earlier. He allowed himself to reminiscence for a few minutes about past missions.

A glance at the chronometer told Badesh that it was almost 3 o'clock in the morning in imperial standard time. He was hungry and tired, but Badesh decided that he would simply meditate for a few hours instead of sleeping or eating. He knew from experience that he could last more than a week without sleep or food; provided that he could meditate in peace. This course of action would minimise the possibility of getting poisoned by either the assassin or the SIS-Agents and would give Theron and Kalda the impression that he was a tireless foe who was not to be trifled with.

ooOOoo

True enough he registered the astounded look Kalda gave him when she entered the conference room in the morning and found him still at work. She shortly hesitated before he began to speak.

"Do you have any news concerning the assassin?"

Badesh didn't care about honorifics, but since it was also a question of respect and establishing a power structure he decided to take a leaf out of Quinn's book. "You will address me with 'my Lord'," he said as threatening as possible.

"No," she answered flatly.

Badesh was amused that Kalda showed enough bravado to defy him, although he could clearly feel that she was scared. He wasn't actually in the mood to force-choke her, at the same time he couldn't back down. He stood up and slowly walked towards Kalda, she stood her ground and stared him in the eye. When he stood before her Badesh clasped his hand behind his back and said in a low voice: "Are you certain that you want to insult me?"

"You are _not_ my lord, and I won't call you by this honorific title. Kill me if you must, but I'm done calling humans by their titles when they don't even bother to call me by mine." Her fear intensified, but nevertheless she didn't flinch. Badesh was mildly surprised that she assumed that he was human, but of course she hadn't seen him without his mask. He doubted that her response had been different had she known that he was a Sith Pureblood.

He was shortly tempted to simply gut her with his lightsaber, but he felt that maiming Kalda was rather a sign of his own weakness than strength. No, he had to show her that he was in charge without resorting to violence, as unsatisfying as it was.

"Ah, then you have me at a disadvantage – pray do tell, what is your title?" Badesh said slowly.

Kalda was taken aback by this development and stuttered. "Wha… my… I'm Agent Biss."

"Care to repeat your previous question, Agent Biss?" whispered Badesh and put his hands on the wall on the right and left side of Kalda and leaned down to her. "Since I honoured your request I do hope that you will honour mine."

"Do you have any news on the assassin… my Lord?" Kalda asked grudgingly.

Badesh rather enjoyed the close proximity, he could literally smell her bitter frustration and sour fear.

"Unfortunately… no, Agent Biss."

In this moment Theron walked in and narrowed his eyes as he saw how close Badesh stood to Kalda.

"Is there a problem?"

Badesh remained close to Kalda and turned his head toward Theron. "Of course not, Agent Biss and I simply agreed that she would call me by my title, isn't that correct, Agent Biss?"

"It is," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Didn't you forget something?" asked Badesh growling.

"It is… my Lord," she lowered her gaze and lifted one hand to her face. The gesture reminded Badesh strongly of Vette and the memory of her turned his pleasure about Kalda's discomfort into something ashen. The sudden displeasure he felt about himself made him long for relief and the old urge to see blood on his hands resurfaced.

"I think you made your point… my Lord," said Theron with a stern voice.

"Indeed, Agent Heian," Badesh replied and backed away. Now was not the time to give in into his longings, he had to focus. Badesh returned to his seat at the conference table and continued reading.


	8. Maelstrom Prison

Vette had created a cover-story about an imperial informant who had filed a report on the location of Theron's and Kalda's XS freighter. In the first 12 hours over a dozen imperial offices accessed the information, the most of them turned out to be associated with departments in Imperial or Sith Intelligence who were assigned to keep track of SIS-Agents.

After checking another user ID she stretched and turned to Quinn who sat beside her in the conference room of the _Fury_ , reading Arkous' schedules and timetables. "Did something turn up on your side?"

Quinn put his data pad down and rubbed his temples. "No, as suspected… either Arkous was too cautious to let something suspicious appear in his schedule or he hid it so masterfully that I simply can't find it."

"So, that means our hopes lay with the assassin. So far I haven't detected suspicious user IDs. I don't know about you, but I need to take a break – or my eyes start to bleed from all this reading!" Vette exclaimed and grinned at Quinn. "Let's have a beer and do some brain-storming."

She almost fell out of her chair when he nodded and got up to his feet and walked towards the mess hall. She was unable to move, it was quite a shock that Capt'n Protocol was actually having a drink on duty. Finally she composed herself and followed him. When she entered the mess Quinn had already cracked open two bottles of beer and handed her one of them.

"It must be my bad influence – this may be the first time I don't have to nag for an hour before we go for a drink," Vette said and took a gulp of her beer.

"That may be, but we are reading reports we have already read weeks ago. In cases like this one has to think outside the box and studies have shown that low doses of alcohol actually stimulate collateral thinking," Quinn retorted and sipped at his beer.

"Getting pissed for the Empire, that's something new…" joked Vette and saluted Quinn in her usual mocking way.

He laughed and said surprisingly playful: "For the Empire!" before taking another sip.

"Who are you and what have you done to Quinn?" laughed Vette and nudged him in the ribcase. "You know that there are probably still bets running across the Imperial Navy that Malavai Quinn never laughs, and here a golden opportunity to disprove them and no holocamera!" Vette leaned against the replicator and smiled at him.

"One has to live up to one's reputation," remarked Quinn drily. "Exceptions prove the rule."

"Why are you always so serious? I mean I get that you are an officer and all, but I have met a lot of imperials and none of them is as stiff as you are."

"It's just the way I am. I'm a good officer because I pay attention to every detail and that means that I have to take everything seriously."

"At least you can loosen up when we are alone, but I have to tell you, Mal – it was quite a drag to get you to unwind. Although sometimes I still find your stoic-soldier-routine adorable!"

"Ah, good to know that I am also in your graces when I am myself," Quinn smirked.

Vette laughed and gave Quinn a quick peck on his mouth. They fell silent for a moment.

"Did you read Grand Moff Kilrans file perchance?" Vette asked absentmindedly.

"Some time ago… why do you ask?" replied Quinn and took a gulp.

"I just thought about him… he is always so chipper, the only time I heard him speak in less than his usually blithely or rather sarcastic fashion was when we were on Korriban. Right after Badesh had killed Baras and we were drinking champagne to celebrate the occasion. He talked about Jedi in an untypical hateful way and it gave me pause."

"And your point being?"

"I don't have a point, I just thought about it… I mean I was scarred as well by Jedi but I don't think that I hate them," she touched the cicatricial tissue on her cheek.

"I don't think that his anger stems from the injury," Quinn replied. "Grand Moff Kilran is a very prideful man… he failed in his duty to hinder a prison outbreak."

Vette frowned. "But it is strange, isn't it? He was already a Moff back then – why was he guarding some back-water prison in the maelstrom nebula?"

"If I recall correctly Imperial Intelligence had received a warning that Jedi wanted to rescue one of their own."

"But there wasn't any fall-out, right? The Republic didn't even gloat that they had rescued a Jedi from the clutches of the Empire. I mean who was he or she that they tried to free them and not Havoc Squad or someone equally famous?"

Quinn pulled a small data pad from his utility belt and tapped on it. "The Jedi's name was Narma… there is no record of him in the imperial databanks. Strange… we have the highest clearance, and it's impossible that someone was imprisoned in this facility without any traces of previous encounters with imperial forces. Hm, how peculiar…"

"What?" Vette was curious and stepped next to Quinn to have a look at the file.

"Narma was admitted in the prison 297 years ago, I assume that there are no files on him because they are in the archives on Dromund Kaas."

"There aren't many species that grow that old… wait a moment, it says here that he was a human!"

"The force can accomplish almost anything," mumbled Quinn, but he sounded surprisingly unsure.

"Perhaps he was frozen in carbonite," suggested Vette.

"Possibly, but it is still perplexing… you said it yourself: there were more prominent prisoners and yet they decided to free a Jedi that has been incarcerated for such a long time. This incident happened 13 years ago and he haven't heard from Narma since then."

"Now I'm really curious, there are so many strange things about this whole prison-outbreak," said Vette and drank the last gulp of her beer, threw the bottle in the recycling machine and strode out of the mess hall into the conference room.

She had already pulled up all connected files when Quinn entered as well. She searched through the specifics and was surprised to see that the file didn't contain who had given Kilran the order to guard the prison in the first place.

"Only Dark Council members could assign a Moff for this kind of task," said Quinn quietly, his face was visibly contemplative.

"Do you think we should investigate the matter? It could be some Sith-y secret assignment that will only stir up bad things and has nothing to do with the Revanites."

"Perhaps, but we won't know for sure if we don't look into it. Vette, please set up a meeting with Grand Moff Kilran. We will ask him personally about the maelstrom prison incident."

ooOOoo

Vette had anticipated that her new position as one of closest advisors of a Dark Council member would have its perks, but being able to call the head of the imperial navy and being put through without questions was still something that surprised her.

Kilrans tall figure appeared on the holocommstation. "Sergeant Ce'na, what a pleasure to hear from you," Kilran said in his usual blithely intonation. Vette felt slightly mocked, but she ignored it and bowed.

"Grand Moff, thank you for answering my call personally."

"Ah, when Imperial Intelligence calls everybody answers, my dear Sergeant." Kilran smiled.

"Sir, Major Quinn and I are currently investigating an important matter and we wanted to meet up with you personally to clear up some questions. I take it that you are in your office on the Imperial Fleet? May we call on you tomorrow?" Vette as aware that she was perhaps too polite but she wanted to show Kilran that she respected him. In the past he had been very helpful to Badesh and she wanted to stay on his good side.

"Of course! I'm looking forward to you visit, I shall put some tarisian white wine on ice." With that he ended the call and the holopicture vanished.

Vette was somewhat relieved that Kilran was friendly, in a strange way she had sympathies for the Grand Moff, even though he probably didn't respect her as much as he pretended.

ooOOoo

"Major! Sergeant! I took the liberty to pour you a glass of chardonnay!" Kilran stood up from his desk and walked briskly towards Vette and Quinn who had entered his office. Both of them bowed saluted before the Grand Moff and Quinn replied: "Thank you sir."

Kilran gestured towards a small lounge arrangement that hadn't been in his office the last time they had visited. Vette sat down on a chair and took a glass of wine, it was surprisingly cold.

"Cheers," said Kilran and they clinked their glasses. "So, let's get on with the business – may I inquire what questions you want to ask me?"

Quinn put the glass down on the table, straightened his jacket and spoke with a clear voice: "Sir, I apologize, but we want to inquire about the incident at the maelstrom prison…"

Vette saw how Kilran's gaze became hard, nevertheless he smiled and gestured Quinn to speak on.

"… we would like to know who assigned you to guard the facility."

Kilran let the wine swing in his glass and smelled it before taking a sip. He was hesitating.

"I am surprised that someone would ask after this after so many years, but it makes sense that Darth Tenebra's associates would be the ones to inquire about this particular… failure of mine."

Vette was puzzled but remained silent, there was no doubt that Kilran was about to reveal more.

Kilran sighted. "You didn't find the proper orders in the files because they don't exist. I was asked for a favour and I granted it… unfortunately I couldn't stop the prisoner from escaping." He leaned back in his chair and took another sip. "Hm, the wine is extraordinary, isn't it? So fresh and dry."

"Indeed sir," replied Quinn calmly.

"The man who asked me to guard the prison was Darth Malgus," Kilran had stopped smiling. "We worked closely together during the sacking of Coruscant – I learned to trust him; and when he asked me to do this mission off the books I did. I guarded the facility with my personal guard and took it upon myself to secure the _Jedi_." Kilran almost spit out the last word.

Vette looked him straight in the eye. "Do you know who this Jedi was? Why was he so important?"

"I did never ask. Malgus' word was enough for me. I'm afraid you have to ask him yourself, although I doubt that he will answer you."

"Thank you, sir – for your time and your honesty," said Quinn earnestly.

Kilran seemed taken aback by the way he was addressed. After a short moment his usual slightly ironic smile returned to his lips. "Anything for the Empire, Major. Perhaps I should add that I am satisfied to see that the both of you haven't lost your manners nor your tact since you ascended with Darth Tenebra."

"I think we both know how fragile our position is, sir," replied Vette, slightly surprised by the hidden compliment in Kilran's words. "I assume that you have seen many Sith associates come and go."

"Indeed, and none of them understood that changes happen fast in the Empire." Kilran took another sip and filled up their half-empty glasses. "It would be a pity to let go the wine to waste, wouldn't it?"

"Thank you, sir, I hope we don't take up too much of your time…" began Quinn, but he was interrupted by Kilran.

"Major, do you think that I would sit down and enjoy a good glass of wine with every rabble that comes through my door? No, my friends, I assure you… I quite enjoy your company and I thought that I would ask a few questions of my own."

Vette shifted in her seat, was he going to ask about Badesh's plans for the intelligence agency? But she was taken aback when Kilran turned to her.

"Do you dance, Sergeant?"

"Wha… Beg your pardon?"

"As you are probably aware the anniversary of the Empire's return from the unknown regions is taking place in a few weeks." Kilran spread his arms. "There are going to be festivities all over Dromund Kaas – the Emperor himself is going to give an address to his loyal subjects. I had hoped that you would accompany me as my escort."

Thoughts rushed through Vette's head, she was confused. The Emperor… to her he was more like a mythological figure than an actual person… and why would Kilran ask her to… no, it had to be some kind of prank. Before she could stop herself, Vette blurted out:

"Are you serious?" and with little delay she added: "sir?"

Kilran chuckled. "I understand your confusion, but I assure you… you appearance would be very much appreciated."

Vette was still sceptical. "I… I don't get it, why should you ask me to be your escort?" She glanced quickly at Quinn but to her dismay his expression was as unreadable as always.

"You rank is too low to be officially invited, Major Quinn and Darth Tenebra are of course already on the guest list. It would be such a pity if you missed this rare opportunity to enjoy the festivities." Kilran was still speaking in his usual pleasant way, but something in his voice led Vette to believe that the invitation was more than a simple excuse to let her 'enjoy' the celebration.

"… thank you, Grand Moff. I'm honoured," she replied hesitantly.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Kilran. "We will make a fine couple… I'm sure of it."

ooOOoo

"Well, that was awkward," said Vette as soon as they had closed the hatch of the _Fury_. "I think I need another drink."

"I wouldn't recommend it – we still have work to do," replied Quinn dryly.

"Right… but what was this about?"

"I don't know, but it is true that the anniversary is upon us. I suspect the Grand Moff has some kind of scheme that he wants to see through – it was certainly wise to accept his invitation."

Vette and Quinn had reached the commstation in the middle of the ship. Vette leaned casually against it and smiled at Quinn.

"Aren't you jealous?"

Quinn stepped to the commstation and began to push a few buttons. "No."

"Hey, it's no fun if you don't get worked up – but you are right. I never understood people who got jealous in a relationship. If I didn't want to be with you anymore I would just leave and that's it."

He looked up from the screen. "Hm, it this the point where I should swear my love to you and beg you to stay with me until the day when the last star dies?" Of course he kept his upper stiff lip while asking.

"Yep, get on with it!" laughed Vette and put her hands on her hip and looked at Quinn expectantly. He was usually very coy with emotional things and she was curious how he would wriggle out of this.

Quinn drew nearer and stopped right before her, he had a very serious look about him as he leaned forward and brushed her left cheek with his lips. Then he whispered in her ear: "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." He kissed her softly.

Vette was so touched by the intimacy of the moment that she just stood there dumbfounded while Quinn returned to the commstation as if nothing had happened. But before he continued his work he turned around and said dryly and almost detached: "Ah, I almost forgot… please don't ever leave me, I beg you. Stay with me until the end of times."

"Wow! That was the most romantic thing you have ever said!" Vette beamed and rushed to Quinn and hugged him with all her might from behind. "I love you too, Mal! And I promise you – you won't get rid of me until the end of times!"

"I certainly hope so, Vette – now let's get back to work," Quinn replied stiffly.


	9. Odd Couple

The soft humming noise of the ship's generators were the only sound that Badesh heard as he was meditating in the conference room. Slowly he opened his eyes, it was almost too quiet. He reached out with the force and found the signatures of Theron and Kalda in the engine room. Since they were not flying anywhere they had no business there, strange. Badesh stood up and walked towards the two energy signatures.

"… creeps me out," Kalda was whispering, but nevertheless Badesh could easily hear her even before he had reached the doorway that led to the engine room.

"It won't take much longer, I'm sure that the assassin will soon strike." Theron sounded calm, but Badesh could feel his anxiety. It lingered just under the surface. He walked quietly to the entrance and positioned himself as quietly as possible in the doorway. It was a cheap, but he hoped that his sudden appearance would startle the SIS-agents, their sour fear was the best he had at the moment.

"We have to…" started Kalda, but she stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Badesh. She didn't flinch, but Badesh thought that she bleached. She stood in front of the power converter while Theron was lying under it, apparently fixing something since he had a hydro-spanner in his hand.

Theron jerked his head into Badesh's direction and rose to his feet. Badesh registered that he was bare-chested and sweating. It was indeed quite hot in the engine room. With interest Badesh let his gaze wander over Theron's ripped abs and he felt a burning desire to beat up… no… not that, he wanted to touch Theron. Without another word Badesh left and returned to the conference room.

ooOOoo

It took him almost half an hour to calm down, Badesh wasn't used to such strange emotions. Of course he had felt them at some other time, but to feel like this when looking at a republican dog was unacceptable. He decided to tall Quinn to ask about any progress, but just as we pulled his personal holocommunicator from his pocket Theron and Kalda stepped into the conference room.

"We need fresh supplies, Theron and I will purchase some items," said Kalda and looked at Badesh with a frown. "We won't be gone long… my Lord."

Badesh smiled behind his mask when he heard the honorific title. "Very well, I will accompany you."

It was obvious that Kalda – and neither Theron for that matter – were thrilled to have him along but of course it was a very good opportunity for an assassin to strike and they knew it.

ooOOoo

When Theron and Kalda walked down the freighters ramp Badesh waited a few seconds before he followed them. Suddenly something shifted in the force, Badesh registered a heightened tension that seemed to come from the hangar door. Before he could shout a warning Theron had already opened it, and was greeted by a half a dozen blaster-rifle muzzles. Both SIS-Agents drew their blasters immediately, but it was obvious that they would be too late to shoot down their opponents. Badesh grinned and ran towards the hangar bay door. With a mighty force jump he landed right in front of Theron and Kalda, right in time to deflect the first salve of blaster bolts. Like a black whirlwind he lunged at the men and women in front of him, their open position and amateurish attempt told him that they were mere cannon-fodder. Within seconds he had dispatched of the mercenaries and went on a rampage on their bodies. After being caged in for almost two days Badesh felt euphoric as he cut off a mercenary's head and crushed it in his hand before letting the staved-in head fall on the ground.

It seemed as if Theron and Kalda had realised as well that the attack wasn't over yet, they were standing back to back and scanned the room with their eyes, their blasters still drawn. Badesh reached out with the force and quickly determined that one force signature was hiding behind a crate in the eastern part of the hangar. He grinned and leaped to the crate and pushed it away with the force, a small and incredibly agile furry creature scurried away while shooting with a crossbow at Badesh. He deflected the bolts easily and grabbed the Ewok by its cowl and ripped the weapon from its hands.

"I will kill you, you brute!" squealed the Ewok and drew a vibro-knife and plunged it into Badesh's arm. Badesh moaned, he had let it happen… nothing was so exiting as feeling and causing pain. Finally he hit the Ewok with his lightsaberhilt on the head, it went still and Badesh let it fall on the floor.

"Threat: Put your weapon down, meatbag," said a metallic voice behind him and Badesh was astounded to see that a rusty droid was standing next to Theron and Kalda, both had been overpowered and disarmed. The droid was pointing it's blaster at Kalda's head.

"Addition: I will kill the woman if you don't yield, Jedi."

Theron's and Kalda's fear reached a new peak, they surely expected to die. If not by the droid's hand then probably by his own. Badesh waited a few moments before he responded, just to bask in the emotions of the SIS-Agents: Anger, fear and hate.

"Your optical processors are faulty, droid – I'm a Sith and no Jedi," he said coolly.

"Observation: Oh yes, there aren't many Jedi who would be trenched in blood."

Badesh focussed on the remaining enemy. It would be easy to kill the droid, but if he wanted to keep Theron and Kalda alive he had to think of a way to outflank an assassination droid with an in-build homing device. In one fluent gesture Badesh pulled Theron and Kalda toward him with the force and pushed the droid at the same time away. He threw his red-bladed lightsaber at the droid who had managed to shoot twice before the lightsaber decapitated him. The blaster bolts were directed at Kalda, but Badesh darted in front of her and managed to deflect one shot with the force, the other hit him in the lower region on his ribcase. Although Badesh wore his usual armour the high velocity blaster bolt penetrated his gear, Badesh gritted his teeth and pressed his hand on the bleeding wound. He looked around, mutilated mercenaries and slain foes everywhere, delicious pain searing through him – it was a good day.

"That was quite impressive," said Kalda from behind him.

Badesh turned on his heel and was satisfied to see that Kalda was visibly shaken despite her firm voice. He clasped his hand behind his back and said in a low voice: "Of course, I'm Sith, Agent Biss."

Kalda shot him an angry look which he chose to ignore. He turned his attention to Theron who had cuffed the Ewok and was picking up the head of the droid.

"I think I can slice into the droid's memory database, although it is ancient…" he said and looked at the dead bodies lying around. "We should get moving, security could be on its way and I'm in no mood to explain all this."

Badesh's personal holocommunicator started beeping and he pulled it out of his pocket while walking towards the XS freighter and put it on. He saw how Kalda carried the Ewok into the ship and stayed a little black.

Quinn little bluish figure appeared. "My Lord, may I inquire what happened?"

Badesh was surprised, yet content to see Quinn. "The assassins made their move, but we captured them – how did you know that something had happened? Did someone suspicious access our fake intel?"

"No, my Lord. We wanted to report our recent progress, but as I can see you have been in a fight."

"You can update me later, Quinn. We will interrogate the assassins soon," Badesh replied and closed the hatch of the freighter behind him. Theron and Kalda were already in the cockpit and were starting up the engines. He could hear them faintly talk to each other.

"Of course, my Lord," Quinn bowed.

"Quinn… why did you choose to update me now?" asked Badesh. There were no coincidences with the force.

"My Lord? I am sorry if the time was poorly chosen…"

Badesh smiled, Quinn was always quick to blame himself. A warm feeling spread through his chest. "Let me rephrase the question: Did something prompt you to call me?"

"Yes, Vette and I both felt like something was amiss… it was a strange almost aggravating sensation. For no explicable reason we both thought of you." Quinn shifted from one foot to the other, he really was uncomfortable. "I didn't want to bring up the matter because it is of course presumptions of us to even think that you wanted to contact us through the force."

Badesh was amazed, he hadn't tried to contact Vette and Quinn and yet they had felt a resonance of his pain. Was it possible? Had they formed a bond through the force? Badesh had heard about Jedi who had accomplished that with other Jedi but he had never assumed that a Sith could do the same with non-force-sensitives.

"We will talk about this later, Quinn," said Badesh quietly and added "thank you."

Quinn bowed and his image vanished from the holocommunicator. Badesh put it back in his pocket and went to the cockpit.

ooOOoo

Just as Badesh entered Kalda activated the hyper-jump and the freighter's engines kicked with considerable noise in the highest gear.

"Where are we headed?" asked Badesh and crossed his arms.

"Rishi, a lawless planet not far from here," replied Theron and rose from the pilot's seat. "The ship is on auto-pilot. Let's have a little chat with the assassins."

Badesh followed Kalda and Theron into the cargo bay, the Ewok was bound and still unconscious. The droid's head lay on a worktable, it was turned off.

"We should try to interrogate the droid before you take him apart Theron," suggested Kalda. "He wanted to save his little partner, perhaps he would talk if we threaten to kill her."

"Alright, let's give it a try," Theron put the head on an electrical device. After he flipped a switch the droid's eyes began to glow in a yellowish light.

"Statement: I will exterminate you all," the droid slurred.

"A rather bold statement from someone without a body," retorted Theron. "We have some questions we want to ask – and I suggest that you cooperate or we will kill your partner."

"Statement: I don't care."

"You lie," said Badesh with a low voice and walked over to the Ewok. "Say again that you don't care and I will cut off her right hand." He ignited his lightsaber.

"Final statement: My Master will terminate you." With that the droid's eyes went dark and the smell of burned cables begun to fill the cargo bay.

"He fried himself!" exclaimed Theron. "I sure hope that the memory chip isn't destroyed!"

"In this case we have to interrogate the Ewok," growled Badesh. "We should wake her up with adrenals."

"How?" asked Kalda frowning.

And Theron added: "We don't know anything about her physiology – an overdose might kill her."

Badesh stared at them. Incompetent! They were both incompetent! Quinn and Vette would have known what to do! He calmed himself. There was no need for rush. He would clean himself up and then hear what news Quinn had for him.

"Call me when she's awake," he sneered and left.

ooOOoo

The shower was almost too small for him, he had to duck lest his head wouldn't hit the ceiling. Badesh missed the _Fury_. And most of all he missed his companions, Theron and Kalda weren't nearly as good as them! Instead of questioning him they should have looked for a solution!

Badesh stepped out of the sonic shower and took his clothes out of the refresher and began to dress. His thought wandered back to his conversation with Quinn. How strange to think that he was able to bond with anyone. The thought of being closer to Vette and Quinn worried him, he had become unbalanced when he just pictured them harmed – how would he react when they would be in real peril? At the same time it gave him a great deal of solace, Badesh mused about it and wondered why it pleased him so much to be connected.

He applied kolto to his wounds and slipped his chest armour over his torso. Finally he put his mask on, then he stepped out of the small bathroom. When he made his way to the conference room he peeked into the cargo bay; Theron was working on the droid while Kalda was watching the Ewok.

As soon as he was in the conference room he locked the door and called the _Fury_ with his personal holocommunicator. After a few seconds Vette's small figure appeared.

"Hey Boss… uh, I mean my Lord… are you alright? Quinn told me that you apprehended the assassins?"

"Yes, one of them was a droid. Heian is currently trying to retrieve its memory chip while Biss is waiting for the other assassin, a Ewok, to wake up."

Quinn appeared next to Vette and he bowed. "My Lord."

They gave Badesh a report on their meeting with Grand Moff Kilran. Badesh was disquieted to hear that there was a connection to Darth Malgus. Malgus had helped him to challenge Baras, he was a very powerful Sith and a cunning tactician.

"Do we have your permission to question Darth Malgus about this favour he asked of Grand Moff Kilran?" Quinn asked. He stood at parade rest while Vette was standing in a rather relaxed way next to him.

"Yes, but proceed with caution. I doubt that Malgus would harm you, but should he threaten you… tell him that I will strangle him with his innards should he dare to lay a finger on you," Badesh calmly retorted.

"Of course my Lord, I will convey your sentiments on that matter should the need arise," responded Quinn equally calm.

"Wait… you're joking, right?" asked Vette incredulously.

Badesh was confused. "Joking? What are you talking about?"


	10. Darth Malgus

Vette sighted. "Okay, forget it." And here she thought that Badesh had finally understood the concept of humour.

Badesh remained silent for a few moments, and Vette assumed that he still tried to understand what she was talking about, but when he spoke it became clear that something else had occupied his mind.

"I have thought about what Quinn has told me earlier about your perception of me contacting you through the force, and I have come to the conclusion that we have formed a force-bond that enables us to feel distress from each other."

"My Lord, how is that possible? Vette and I aren't force-sensitive," objected Quinn.

"I don't know," admitted Badesh and the thought of something force-related that was unknown to him unsettled Vette. She had always found the force to be something dangerous and intimidating. To think that she was affected by it in this way troubled her.

"We will have to investigate our connection," continued Badesh, "however, for the time being we will focus on our mission."

"Of course, my Lord," replied Quinn smoothly and Badesh ended the call.

"What is the matter, Vette?" Quinn looked at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Doesn't it scare you? This bond I mean…" she wiped with her hand over her face and closed her eyes shortly. "I don't really understand the force and how it works. What if it influences us?"

"In which way?"

She looked him in the eye. "What if the connection intensifies? We feel his pain now, but what if we start to feel his other emotions too? Won't we lose ourselves?"

"I… I have to admit, I didn't think about it that way. I simply assumed that it could help us to keep each other safe and would help us to accomplish our missions."

Vette smiled at Quinn, perhaps she was only overthinking and he was right. Their fate was anyway intrinsically tied to Badesh, it could give them an edge in dangerous situations. But this couldn't completely dispel her discomfort about it.

"Alright, but you start to rip off you opponents heads and go berserk I will say 'Told you so'," she said in an attempt to lift her own mood.

"That is of course your prerogative."

ooOOoo

It was fairly easy to contact Darth Malgus' office on Dromund Kaas. But it turned out that the true challenge lay in getting an audience. The ordinance did of course his best to defer them to Malgus' apprentice and insisted that the Darth was far too busy to receive them personally.

"I understand that Darth Malgus is a busy man," argued Vette, "but it is very important that we speak to him in person."

The ordinance, a skinny fair-skinned human Captain, finally tapped something in his console and murmured. "In this case I will arrange a meeting at 5 o'clock – but I can assure you that Darth Malgus will be very displeased that Darth Tenebra isn't calling on him personally."

Vette bowed and answered: "Thank you, Captain." Then she ended the holocall and strode into the cockpit where Quinn was already plotting a course to Dromund Kaas. She sat down on the co-pilot seat and glanced at the chronometer. They hadn't much time to get to Kaas City, but since they were still docked at the orbital station at the Imperial Fleet it would be a rather short trip.

"Do you think that Malg… Darth Malgus is really a danger to us?"

Quinn activated the ship's engines and looked over to her. "It is entirely possible. I assume it depends on why he asked Grand Moff Kilran to guard the Jedi. But there is no doubt that we are threading on thin ice – as you know Sith aren't patient and they certainly don't like to be questioned."

"Gee, thanks for the prep talk…" sighted Vette. She was genuinely worried about their meeting with Malgus, it was the first time they had to face a Sith without Badesh.

ooOOoo

A few hours later they entered a large grey building complex that hosted the war ministry. Unlike Imperial Intelligence this ministry was decorated with several grand statues and flags, huge pillars with supported a dome which was depicting past imperial victories. The floor was made from rylothian marble. Everything in the ministry seemed excessive and also a little gaudy, something Vette wouldn't have thought that Malgus would appreciate.

Quinn's and her's steps echoed through the entrance hall as they made their way to the reception. The Captain she was speaking earlier to was sitting there and stood up to salute Quinn as they approached.

"Sir, please take a seat," he gestured towards a few black sofas standing right next to the reception. "I will call you as soon as Darth Malgus is ready to receive you." The man didn't even look in the direction of Vette.

"Thank you, Captain," replied Quinn.

They only had to wait for about five minutes, then the Captain addressed Quinn: "Sir, he is ready for you." A large door in the left opened silently and Vette registered that there was hardly any light in the hallway that lay behind it. She felt nervous. Nevertheless she got up, straightened her uniform and walked together with Quinn through the door, which slid close behind them. Again the only sounds were their steps echoing through the gallery. Vette felt cold and a chill travelled down her spine when they finally reached another door that slid open.

Darth Malgus was kneeling on the floor, obviously meditating. His heavy breaths filled the room. Vette looked around; it was an almost empty, scant office with little furniture. A single light source from the ceiling, was dimly illuminating the surroundings. The contrast to the splendour outside this room was remarkable.

Quinn silently stood at attention and Vette imitated him; surely he knew how to handle a Darth better than she. After a few moments Malgus rose to his feet and approached them. He was as tall as Badesh and Vette felt threatened by his towering presence alone. Malgus looked at her with this red eyes, she returned his gaze boldly. Finally he turned towards Quinn.

"I hear you are inquiring about the prison outbreak in the maelstrom nebula?" Malgus' voice was distorted by his cybernetic respirator.

"Yes, my Lord," replied Quinn and bowed. Obviously Kilran had already told Malgus that they were coming.

"Care to tell me why Darth Tenebra isn't bothering to appear personally in front of me? It is rude to send one's subordinates to a meeting with a fellow Council member."

"I apologize, my L…"

"Your apology means nothing to me Major, you are in no position to make excuses!" retorted Malgus sharply. Vette felt a bang of annoyance at these words, Malgus didn't need to remind them that they were mere minions in his eyes.

"My words were poorly chosen my Lord. I simply wanted to express my regret that Darth Tenebra isn't available at the moment. He is on a vital mission for the safety of the Empire. Time is of the essence, otherwise it would be completely unacceptable for him to send us instead of coming before you himself," Quinn said smoothly.

"He trusts you, doesn't he… Sergeant?" asked Malgus and turned around and began to walk towards his desk in the middle of the room.

"Darth Tenebra knows that we are loyal to him," retorted Vette and tried to sound calm and collected.

Malgus sat down and pressed his fingertips together. "Answer my question."

Vette gulped. "Yes, my Lord. He trusts us." She wasn't sure that it was wise to admit that to another Sith, but she couldn't think of another answer.

"You are his weakness, both of you. He doesn't know it yet, but you will be his downfall… but for the time being I will cooperate with you."

Vette and Quinn remained silent.

"13 years ago I commanded Kilran to guard the prison because I had a vision. The force showed me bits and glimpses of the past and the future. Suffice to say that everything was connected to the Jedi."

"My Lord, may I speak freely?" Quinn had spoken in his usual haughty way, but Vette detected a slight tremor in it.

"If you must."

"According to Grand Moff Kilran you didn't command him to guard the Jedi, you asked him as a personal favour. Am I correct to assume that you did that because you wanted to keep this mission a secret from the other members of the Dark Council?"

"You assumption is false, Major. I didn't want to keep it from my colleagues. But answer me this – why is this important?"

Vette glanced at Quinn; it seemed that they had to tell Malgus the reason for their questions. Quinn hesitated shortly, then he answered: "We have cause to believe that the Jedi is connected to an attack on the Empire. We are investigating everything and everyone to determine how deep the conspiracy runs."

Malgus leaned forward in his chair. "Hm… in this case you already know that the fallen Jedi Narma is also known as Darth Revan, don't you?"

Vette was amazed, she almost blurted out an incredulous "what?" but she restrained herself.

"… no, we didn't know that…" said Quinn quietly, "I take it that your vision was about the Revanites?"

"It is not in the nature of visions to be clear. At the time I didn't know about the Order of Revan, the vision merely showed me a destroyed Empire and Darth Revan. I interpreted the vision as warning and acted upon it."

Vette believed that Malgus was telling the truth and but he was holding back something. It didn't make sense, why would he ask Kilran to guard the Jedi – why hadn't he been at the prison himself? His previous answer had implicated that he didn't want to keep his vision a secret from the Dark Council, but from whom if not them? And why would Malgus allude so much without telling them the whole truth? Her train of thought was derailed when Malgus spoke again.

"I have told you everything you have to know, our meeting is over."

"My Lord, may we…" begun Quinn, but he was interrupted by Malgus.

"No, you may not. Leave."

Vette and Quinn bowed and obeyed Malgus' command.

ooOOoo

They didn't speak to each other until they had reached Badesh's office in Imperial Intelligence and had closed the door behind them.

"Malgus knows more than he lets on." Vette sat down on Badesh's chair.

Quinn pulled a chair to the desk and rubbed his temples. "Yes, _Darth_ Malgus omitted enough to make it clear that he wasn't free to speak about the matter. And that is what worries me… he is certainly not afraid of the Dark Council, there is only one institution or rather one person that has the authority and power to keep a him quiet."

Vette frowned. "You mean the Emperor?"

"I can't believe it myself… but it's the only answer I have come up with." Quinn had a pained look on his face. "But it can't be… the Emperor is absolute."

It was clear that the very thought that the Emperor had not acted in the interest of the Empire disturbed Quinn deeply. Vette felt sorry for him, but he had to concur.

"Well, it makes sense… Malgus couldn't guard the prison himself because the Emperor would have become aware that he knew something. And it would also explain why Malgus didn't simply tell us the whole story – I guess it's treason to even question the Emperor, isn't it?" Vette's gaze fell upon Jadus' heart, the trophy was standing on the right corner of Badesh's desk. To her own surprise she wasn't disgusted.

"It is high treason!" Quinn slammed his fist on the desk and Vette was spooked to see him so emotional. "By the stars! It is high treason and yet we have the duty to investigate!" He stood up and paced back and forth. "Or perhaps we should trust him… yes, it's blasphemy to think that he wouldn't know what's best for the Empire! We can't see the whole picture, only he knows what's right!"

"Do you really believe that?" asked Vette quietly.

Quinn stopped and stared at her. "How dare you? How dare you question my loyalty to the Empire?" His voice was cold.

"Mal, you are too smart for this. You know that I would never question your loyalty to the Empire, I know that you would do absolutely _everything_ to protect it. But you know as well as me that nobody is flawless, not you, not me and not the Emperor."

"The Emperor is omniscient! He _is_ the Empire!" She had never seen Quinn so angry.

"Guess then I missed him on Corellia when we claimed the planet! Don't you get it? He is not the Empire, we are!"

"Stop it!" Quinn yelled.

"Answer me one question – why do you serve in the imperial navy?"

He closed his eyes and pinched his nose. Quinn was making a visible effort to calm down. Finally he returned to his seat, Vette knew that she had won the argument, but he still struggled to admit it. "I… I serve because I believe in order and strength – I believe that the galaxy is a better place under imperial rule."

She leaned forward and took his hand in hers. "See… you believe in values and not in some distant leader."

Quinn had a tormented expression written on his face. "You don't know how much it hurts to acknowledge these allegations… you mustn't ever tell anyone. It is a treacherous thought… I… I…" He broke off. "As a child I idolized the Imperial Guard. To serve the Emperor as they did was the greatest honour a non-Sith could achieve. Now… look at me…"

Vette smiled in an encouraging way. "Yes, I look at you. And I see a man who was smart enough to change his views concerning aliens, I see a man who realised that blind duty is wrong and I see a man who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to… erm… protect his beloved Empire… and… well, don't you want to stop my embarrassing lofty speech? It's getting awkward."

She felt almost mortified, Vette fully aware that at least she wasn't really a part of this glorious Empire she was talking about. She was only an ex-slave who had stayed with her former master because she had nowhere else to go.

Quinn lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it tenderly. "Thank you, Vette." She fully expected him to joke about her and her stupid speech, but his expression was solemn. "And I don't mean the platitudinous patriotism…"

"Do you mean to say that I don't have a future in the Ministry of Propaganda as a speech writer? I'm hurt!" Vette said in an attempt lighten up the mood.

"You don't have to do that," replied Quinn in an earnest voice.

She wiped her face with her right hand and smiled at him. "Do what?"

"Degrade yourself or the things you say," he whispered.

The smile died on her lips. "Yes, I have to. I really do." She felt exposed and wasn't interested in diving further into the subject. "Let's get back to work, shall we?" She didn't miss the enquiring gaze Quinn shot her, but he pulled his data pad from his utility belt and began to type on it. Luckily she could always count on his work ethic.


	11. Masks

"The Ewok is awake."

Badesh had been meditating in an effort to expel the tiredness that had taken hold of him. Kalda's voice surprised him, he hadn't felt her presence. Perhaps it had been unwise to go without food and sleep – his concentration had suffered.

"I will be there shortly," he retorted and registered after that she had left that Kalda hadn't used his honorifics. Badesh decided to let it go this time. He got up and walked to the cargo bay.

Theron was still working on the droid, Badesh glanced at him before he turned his attention to the bound Ewok. Kalda was already sitting next to her, whispering something in her ear. When she saw that Badesh had arrived Kalda gestured towards him and said with in a soft and almost childish voice: "Treek… please tell me everything you know. The Sith is going to hurt you and I can't protect you from him!"

Usually Badesh didn't care for this quaint and laborious approach when interrogating a prisoner, but since Kalda had apparently already started to work with it he decided to give it a shot. The whole situation strangely reminded him of Corellia when he and Vette deceived a Jedi.

"We don't have time for this," growled Badesh and focused to let a spark of force lighting crackling at his fingertips. Suddenly he felt Theron's gaze upon him, he had his complete attention and it satisfied him deeply. After a few moments of silence he shot lighting at Treek, she convoluted under the force and when Badesh stopped she began swearing at Badesh in quite a colourful language.

Badesh wasn't even annoyed by the metaphors Treek used and simply shocked her again.

"Stop it! You are going to kill her!" yelled Kalda and moved right in front of Badesh. Her voice expressed horror and concern, but none of these emotions were visible on her face.

This game already bored Badesh, he decided to leave before he really lost his patience. "I give you an hour, Agent Biss. Then I will question the prisoner myself."

With these words he stormed out of the cargo bay and wanted to go straight to the conference room, but when he passed the mess hall he reconsidered. He hadn't drunken anything since almost two days and felt suddenly a longing for a cup of tea. Hopefully the SIS-Agents had enough sense to have a decent tea programmed into their replicator.

After some scrolling he found ortholan green tea. He opened several cupboards before he finally found the one with the cups. Badesh took a red one and was surprised to see that it had "For my beloved son" written on it. Was it Theron's? It would be strange for a senior SIS-Agent to take something personal on a mission… it was probably a leftover from the previous crew. Badesh pushed a few buttons and let the tea stream into the cup.

Footsteps drew closer, Badesh knew that it had to be Theron. Sure enough the Agent entered and was obviously taken aback to find the Sith in the mess hall. Then his sight fell on the steaming cup of tea that was still standing in the replicator. The expression on his face quickly changed from startled to amused, he even chuckled a little.

Badesh grew angry, nobody had the right to make fun of a Sith!

"Oh, if my mother could see you… it would probably kill her to see that a Sith is using this mug," he said light-heartedly.

Badesh's anger tickled away. He hadn't laughed about him… Badesh was curious to learn more about Theron. At the same time he couldn't come up with a sensible response. What would Quinn do?

"Care to elaborate?" Badesh said hesitantly.

Theron shrugged. "There is not much to elaborate. It was just a funny thought."

"I see… so, uh, have you made any progress with the droid, Agent Heian?" Badesh took his cup but lingered next to the replicator.

Theron stretched his arms. "Yes, most of the circuits are fried but I was able to salvage the location sensor; we will see all locations the droid has been in the last six months."

Badesh remembered that Quinn always complimented work well done. "Good work, Agent," he said stiffly.

Theron was visibly surprised and looked at Badesh as if he were waiting for something. Badesh remained silent and simply stared at Theron, an uncomfortable silence spread out. Finally Theron cleared his throat.

"Well, I thought you would add something insulting after the nice thing you said, and now I'm almost disappointed that you didn't bank a comment like 'Good work, Agent… at least for a republic worm'."

Badesh was confused. Was he making fun of him after all? Then he recalled that Vette often joked to lighten up a tense situation. Theron was probably joking with him… what now? Time to take a leave out of Vette's book – she would banter back and soothe the dialogue partner with playful physical contact.

Badesh put his mug on the counter, stepped right in front of Theron and growled: "If that is what you want, I will call you worm, you republic filth!" Then he slapped him so hard on the shoulder that Theron almost lost his balance.

"Ow!" Theron rubbed his shoulder and shot Badesh an angry look. "I was just joking, you know. No need to get violent!"

This hadn't played out like Badesh had intended. He was obviously lacking experience in this kind of communication. "I know – I was joking too," replied Badesh with in an even voice.

"You mean… I just witnessed an example of Sith humour?" asked Theron disbelievingly.

"Yes," retorted Badesh curtly.

"And I bet you are laughing under that mask of yours?"

Quick! He had so say something entertaining, something less aggressive than before. "It's the sole reason that Sith wear masks at all," he deadpanned. Vette would have been proud.

It took Theron a moment to take in what Badesh had said, but then he burst out with laughter. Badesh was surprised and felt gratified that he had managed to actually jest in such an entertaining way. He had of course shared some witticisms with Vette and Quinn, but this was the first time he had tried it with an outsider.

"And here I thought that all force-users have lost their sense of humour." Theron smiled at him and Badesh felt a certain hot feeling spread in his lower abdomen. "May I?" The Agent gestured towards the replicator and Badesh moved out of the way.

Theron replicated a steak with pasta. He pulled the plate out of the machine and went to the table. "Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten since you arrived… my Lord."

Badesh hesitated, he didn't need sustenance to survive as long he could meditate. But on the other hand he primarily decided to abstain because it would show the SIS-Agents that he was a tireless enemy. It seemed a little pointless now after his display of power against the assassins. Before he could make up his mind Kalda appeared in the doorframe. If she was surprised to see Badesh standing in the mess hall she didn't show it.

"The Ewok is filibustering… a smart strategy. It will take a lot of time to verify her information and since we don't yet know if she is cooperating we can't push her further." Kalda strode to the replimat and pushed a few buttons. After a few seconds she pulled a fish dish with rice out of the machine and joined Theron at the table. She took the cutlery in her hand, but before she started eating she glanced over her shoulder at Badesh. "Don't you ever eat?"

"I just said the same – it won't kill you to eat some republic food, besides, the steak is actually decent," added Theron while chewing on a piece of meat.

"I don't eat meat," replied Badesh in a low voice and turned to the replimat. He scrolled through the menu and found a potato stew which he replicated. He took the bowl and sat down beside Kalda.

"You really don't eat meat?" asked Kalda while cutting her fish.

"No, I don't." Badesh reached up and pulled his mask from his face and put it on the table. Of course he registered Theron's and Kalda's amazed gazes when they laid their eyes on his features for the first time.

"And here I thought that Sith wear masks to hide their ugly mugs," remarked Kalda dryly and turned her attention again on her food.

"It's a tradition, the mask symbolises…" began Badesh.

"She is just joking," said Theron amused.

"A Joke. Of course," replied Badesh lamely. He shortly mused whether he should again insist on his honorifics but then he decided that it would have been out of place. He shoved a fork full of stew in his mouth and was pleasantly surprised by its flavour.

"Sooo, I just have to ask – why don't you eat meat?" inquired Theron and leaned back in his chair.

"It's personal," answered Badesh. He regretted that he had told them in the first place.

"Yeah, well, I always thought that Sith Purebloods were the real deal – brutal and bloodthirsty as they come. It's just strange…"

Badesh looked at him blankly. "I don't understand. Why is it strange?"

Theron began to stammer. "Because… because you actually like to kill people, don't you? One could assume that this, uh, lust for blood extended to the dinner table."

"How come that suddenly the Sith isn't the creepy one?" frowned Kalda.

Theron threw his hands up in despair. "Alright, let's just change the topic; have you heard from the Major or Vette?"

"Yes, they are following a trail… I hope to hear from them soon. But I suspect very much that the assassins are our only chance to discover the whereabouts of the cult."

"Then we have to verify Treek's stories as fast as possible. But I have the strong feeling that she hasn't given us anything substantial."

"I could torture her, she will talk within the hour," commented Badesh calmly.

"That is not how we…" began Theron, but he was interrupted by Kalda.

"Yes, that would be a viable option for a humanoid species. But we simply don't know enough about Ewoks and how resilient they are; in the worst case you will kill her and we got nothing."

"I can't believe that you would resort to torture!" exclaimed Theron.

"Don't be such a hypocrite! You brought in a Sith and you knew fully well that Imps aren't going to play nice. But I guess you counted on that so that you don't have to bloody your own hands," replied Kalda coldly.

"Perhaps you are right… but violence should be our last resort, not our first." Theron said crestfallen.

Badesh was puzzled again, not only did a veteran SIS-Agent hesitate to torture a prisoner, he seemed _hurt_ by the thought of it. Theron was truly not what he expected. Or was it all an act? But what would he gain by appearing to be weak?

"We should meet with Quinn and Vette; Quinn is an exceptional medic and could monitor the Ewok during the questioning," suggested Badesh.

Kalda nodded. "Sounds like a plan, we need anyway more manpower to look through all the intel Treek has given us."

"Alright, we could rendezvous on Rishi," concurred Theron.

"I will tell them as soon as they call." Badesh had finished his meal and took a sip of his now cold tea.

"You surprise me …my Lord." Kalda said cautiously. "Don't you usually snap with your fingers and expect your subordinates to drop everything and rush to your side?"

Badesh looked at her coldly. Did she take him for an idiot? "Agent Biss, they are on an important mission; of course I won't harass them while they might still be in danger."

He didn't miss that she and Theron exchanged glances. Badesh was aware that he was slowing betraying how deeply he felt about Vette and Quinn. At the same time it seemed pointless to hide his affections and put on an act that the Agents would see through anyway.

Badesh grabbed his mask and put it back on, then he took his plate and the cup and returned to the replicator and put them into the refresher. Without looking at Theron and Kalda he left and returned to the conference room.

ooOOoo

A few hours later his holocommunicator beeped and the caller ID confirmed that someone from the _Fury_ was trying to reach him. Despite the recently discovered force-bond he shared with his friends Badesh was relieved to see Vette's bluish figure over the holo.

"Hey! How are you doing, my Lord?"

"Everything is fine, Vette. How are things on your end?"

"We gathered some interesting intel. Perhaps it would be best to meet up and discuss it in person?"

"Very good, I was about to suggest the same – I'm sending coordinates now. Contact me as soon as you are in orbit," replied Badesh and smiled. He was looking forward to see them again.

"Sure thing, boss!" Vette saluted him mockingly and then her picture vanished.


	12. The Rishii

The _Fury_ dropped out of the hyper lane 20 hours later. Vette had just finished reading the file on the Jedi Narma aka Darth Revan. Quinn had pulled the file from the archives before they had left Dromund Kaas, but it was disappointingly thin: Narma had been a powerful Jedi who had fought on a long forgotten war and had fallen to the dark side. Apparently he and a Darth Malak led a mysterious alien army to conquer the known galaxy before he had been captured by a Jedi strike team after Malak had betrayed him. One of the Jedi, Bastila Shan, had bonded with Revan as she saved so that the Jedi Council could brainwash Revan into helping them to stop Malak. There were not much details beside that Narma had become a light-sided Jedi once again – even after he learned that he had been Darth Revan – and stopped Malak before disappearing into the unknown regions of space.

Vette sat in the lounge next to the commstation, her feet on the café table and smiled at Quinn as the stepped out of the cockpit, a disapproving look on his face; he didn't like that she had the habit of putting her feet on tables. But he didn't say anything, instead the activated the commstation and a few seconds later Badesh's picture appeared.

"My Lord, we have arrived on Rishi – awaiting coordinates for our meeting-point."

"Good to see you, Quinn – meet us on the surface in the _Blaster's Path_ cantina in Port Rishi. According to Agent Heian it is supposed to be a discreet place..." Vette could clearly hear doubt in his voice.

"Right away, my Lord," Quinn replied smoothly.

Badesh nodded and ended the call.

"Guess we have to drop the uniforms," she beamed at Quinn because she knew how much he disliked to 'disguise' himself with civilian clothes.

"You show decidedly too much enthusiasm…" he retorted and strode towards the crew quarters. Vette followed him and already started to open up her jacket. As soon as she stood in front of her locker she pulled haphazardly a set of clothing out of it and started to dress.

"I just read Revan's file. Did you follow up whether the Jedi mentioned is somehow related to the current Jedi head honcho?" she asked while slipping into a pair of black trousers.

"She is, according to the Grand Master Satele Shan's file she is the descendant of Bastila Shan." Quinn voice was shortly muffled when he pulled a red shirt over his head.

"Huh, I didn't know that Jedi procreated at all. Aren't they celibate?"

"I don't know; I have yet to read a report on Jedi intercourse," he quipped dryly.

"Tell me if you find the appropriate file – I'm curious!"

"I won't dignify that with an answer."

ooOOoo

The _Blaster's Path_ was indeed an excellent meeting-point; it was overcrowded, loud and downright chaotic. The customers were a rather shady crowd; most of the sported tacky cybernetics and badly stitched scars. The air was heavy with a strange smell, mixed with the usual cantina 'perfume': alcohol, sweat and greasy food. Vette had to resist the urge to grimace at the stench, she glanced at Quinn who was pushing himself through the mass right behind her.

"Smell that, Vette? That's the smell of low-quality blaster cartridges leaking tibanna gas. That's who we're dealing with on Rishi – very cheap, very violent people," he almost shouted in her ear. The music was deafening, the bass was in such a high setting that Vette felt every beat in her chest.

"This may be the saddest, most run-down cantina I've ever seen. I've said that before, but our missions keep surprising me," she yelled back.

They pushed through the crowd until they reached a small door in the back. The Cathar bouncer seemed to expect them; he opened the door as soon as Vette and Quinn approached. As soon as the door closed behind them the noise died down almost instantly.

Badesh sat on a large sofa, an untouched alcoholic beverage in front of him. Theron and Kalda sat on the sofa across from the Sith, since they still had all their limbs he assumed that Badesh had gotten along with them. Vette smiled at Badesh. He got up and stopped only centimetres away from Quinn and her. Due to his mask she was unable to tell whether he was smiling, but she was certain that he was pleased to see them. From the corner of her eye Vette saw how his right hand twitched as if he wanted to touch them but had changed his mind before he could act.

"Good to see you both," Badesh murmured and returned to his place.

Vette followed him and sat down beside him while Quinn remained standing.

"Good day to you, Agents," Quinn stiffly said.

"Hi!" Theron replied with a broad smile, he was obviously teasing Quinn.

"Hi," Vette blithely replied and made herself comfortable on the sofa.

Kalda didn't say anything, she stared at Vette, probably still trying to wrap her mind around her career choices.

"The Ewok has talked, Agent Biss suspects that she is only buying time but due to the many implications that came with her intel we need to verify it and that will cost time," began Badesh, "I wish to interrogate her further with all means necessary. Quinn, I hope you know enough about Ewok physiology to make sure that she survives."

Quinn denoted a bow. "Of course, my Lord. I studied it after I have learned that one of the assassins was a Ewok."

Badesh simply nodded.

"I take it that we have to screen through the information that she has already given us?" sighed Vette. She didn't like the thought that Badesh would torture the Ewok but at the same time she knew that it was only a question of time before their trail got cold and that they simply hadn't the luxury to wait – and it wasn't Badesh's style.

"Yes, we have brought her into a warehouse here in Port Rishi. It might take a while and we need a base of operations while we gather more intel." Kalda calmly said. Somehow it didn't surprise Vette that she had no qualms to let Badesh tantalise the Ewok. She didn't appear to be cruel, but Kalda had seen and lived through much to get squeamish about something that simply had to be done… but was it really completely necessary? The doubt Vette had silenced before resurfaced.

"Can't we wait before we torture a sentient being?" she asked hesitantly. "We could look through the intel first…"

"I agree," said Theron, "we could give it a day before we resort to that kind of tactics."

"No, we don't! There has to be a reason why Treek was filibustering – she knows something and wants to stall us and that means that we have to act fast!" Kalda's voice was firm.

"I agree with Agent Biss," said Quinn curtly.

Badesh nodded in the direction of Quinn. "We will proceed as planned."

On their way to the warehouse Vette saw very unusual aliens from the unknown regions. The ones that impressed her most were bird-like humanoid with wings as well as arms. A group of them stood together and were discussing something as the Imperials and the SIS-Agents passed them.

"I have never seen anything like that…" she said quietly to Quinn. "They look so… regal with all their colourful feathers."

"Indeed… I'm intrigued as well," he replied and glanced repeatedly in the direction of the aliens.

"They are Rishii – natives on this planet. They are very friendly and have a natural ability to learn languages," remarked Kalda from behind them.

Quinn had a contemplative look on his face. "The Rishii could make fine allies for the Empire. Of the alien species we've recruited, few have natural aerial attack capacity."

Vette nudged him. "You really have a one-tracked mind, Quinn!"

Kalda snorted and caused Quinn and Vette to turn around. "Allies? Don't you mean slaves, Major?"

Quinn narrowed his eyes. "Clearly I'm not the only one with a single-tracked mind. Surely you are aware that the Empire is currently undergoing changes…"

"Really? Are you telling me that you whole-heartedly condemn slavery?" Kalda asked pointedly.

Vette didn't like the conversation, secretly she feared that she would hear something she would rather forget: the fact that neither Quinn – nor Badesh for that matter – wished to abolish slavery. In the past Quinn had made clear that he wanted to enable aliens to escape slavery if they were of any value to the Empire, but he never stated that he detested the concept.

Quinn glanced quickly at Vette. "No… I don't condemn slavery," he began slowly, "in fact I believe that there is a place for slavery in the Empire, but there have to be standards that enable slaves to rise above their stations… a certain permeability if you will."

Vette felt a sting in her heart as she listened to Quinn's statement. Yes, she had known that he hadn't completely changed his opinion on slavery, even after they had become lovers… and still it hurt her.

Kalda smiled joyless. "That is what I thought."

"Yes, I'm a bigoted imperial bore, how insightful of you to notice… but at least I'm not a hypocrite who pretends to believe in republican values and yet drops them as soon as they become inconvenient," he arrogantly answered.

"It that supposed to insult me?" Kalda crossed her arms and frowned at Quinn.

"No, it's merely a statement. It's remarkable how our views coincide in matters on how to handle our missions, Agent Biss. And yet you act as if you were my superior in questions of morale."

"So, do you mean to say that utilitarianism is restricted to imperials?"

"Of course not, and frankly I admire your capability to make the unpleasant choices despite Agent Heians objections. My point is that I don't want to be lectured in questions of ethics by someone who knows that sometimes the end justifies the means."

Kalda shrugged. "Fair enough… but you are making it too easy for yourself, Major. You work for an Empire that is built on the backs of people that are less fortunate than you. You have blood on your hands… blood from men, women and children who were killed just because they were born into the wrong family!"

Quinn didn't answer.

Vette had remained silent through the whole conversation. She had thought that she had overcome her guilt as she joined the Empire, but the way Kalda casually questioned the changes in imperial society had reminded Vette how far away she – and every other alien or slave – were from being accepted as equals. Vette's pace slowed until she was a few metres behind the others. By the stars! She even accepted that the man she loved thought that slavery was appropriate! Vette was angry at herself, and a lump formed in her throat as she mused over the conversation.

Deep in thought she almost bumped into Badesh who had stopped and was apparently waiting for her to catch up. Startled she looked at him and managed to smile weakly.

He didn't say anything, but he walked beside her as they approached their destination. Vette realised that this was his way of showing his concern. Badesh would never ask her if she was feeling alright, at least not in public, but he must have felt her inner upheaval. It comforted her that Badesh cared about her. She set her gaze on Quinn who was walking with Kalda and Theron in front, he looked over his shoulder with an uneasy expression written on his face. Badesh's presence next to her and Quinn's worried look caused the lump in her throat to slowly shrink. Vette drew a deep breath, no, there was no need for her to feel guilty about her past choices. It was exactly as she had told Kalda on the freighter: she met two decent guys and stayed with them because they actually cared about her.

It was that simple. Nobody was looking out for her except a couple of Imps, the least she could do was watching their backs. And… maybe, with time, they would actually change their perception of the system the Empire relied on. There was no reason to give up hope, they had already begun to change. The thought calmed her down a bit and she slightly brushed Badesh's arm. She knew that he would understand.

ooOOoo

The warehouse was a rather shabby building that looked like it was built a few centuries ago, either that or the owner had used the cheapest materials possible, mused Vette as she looked at walls which were actually built from wooden planks.

"I see… you haven spared neither expense nor effort for a first-class hide-out," she mumbled. Vette still felt glum, but she tried her best to forget her depressing thoughts from before.

"Hey, it was the best I could do in the short time we had – and besides, it is remote enough for our purpose," retorted Theron with an awkward smile.

"No sweat, we have been to worse places," Vette replied. Then she saw how a large wombrat scurried through the room and disappeared behind a few crates. "…or not…"

Quinn had followed the wombrat's course with his eyes and stated dryly: "At least there aren't rakghouls."

"Yeah, point taken."

"Rakghouls?" asked Theron visibly interested. "Have you been to Taris?"

"I'm afraid that is classified information," answered Quinn curtly. He stepped to a table and put a small carrying case on it. Quinn opened it and glanced over the contents: There were several ampullae in it and after inspecting them Quinn closed the case again and turned to Badesh. "My Lord, I'm ready."

Badesh nodded and they left the main room and went into an adjacent room.

"Well, let's go through the information Treek has already given us," suggested Kalda and handed Theron and Vette data pads. "Vette, Theron has set up a commstation over there – just in case that you need to access the holonet."

Before Vette could answer a shrill scream rang out. Vette almost let her data pad fall and nervously looked at the door Quinn and Badesh had disappeared behind.

"Yes… thank you," she said quietly.

Theron looked remarkably pale and again Vette wondered how the man had managed to become a senior SIS Agent. Then she registered that he slightly touched his implants at his temple. She made a mental note that she had to add this observation to Theron's file.


	13. Mystics

After two hours Badesh had finally broken the Ewok. Or rather, Quinn's combination of drugs and his force persuasion had caused Treek to give in. Badesh had attended enough interrogations in the past months to learn that brute force alone hardly ever delivered the desired results. He had shot lightning at Treek at the beginning only to mislead Theron and Kalda about his powers of persuasion. Usually they didn't work on strong-willed individuals and that was why he had asked Quinn to mix a strong hallucinogenic drug with a high tetrahydrocannabinol yield to weaken Treek's resolve and focus.

"We met with the client on Alderaan, he never told us his name but we met in a palace," Treek whispered a smile plastered on her lips.

Badesh sat in front of her, completely focused on her. "Very good, what did he look like?" he asked in the sweetest voice he could muster and waved his hand. "You feel good and you want to tell me everything about the client." Badesh felt humiliated that he had to resort to… this. But resistance was easier when there was something to fight against.

"I feel good… he was a dark-haired human, quite fat and… he complained about Killiks a lot and said mean things to me. The servants in the palace bowed to him. He must be a very important man, but he wasn't the boss ..."

Badesh attempted to get more information with other questions, but Treek was unable to tell more that she already had.

"My Lord, perhaps it is time to plant the suggestions? I doubt that we will get more out of her."

Badesh turned his attention towards Quinn and smiled at him. Of course he was wearing his mask, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed himself to show so openly his affection.

"You are right as always, Malavai. You may step outside, this will take another hour at least. And inform Keeper at the earliest possible occasion."

"Yes, my Lord." Quinn bowed curtly and left.

Badesh focused again on Treek and said calmly: "You fulfilled your contract. You should return to your client and inform him of your success."

"But I didn't do it alone… HK helped me. He is my friend," slurred Treek.

"Of course, you and HK will both return and tell your client about your great accomplishment." Badesh felt slightly sick but continued to compliment Treek and used the force to drive the suggestion home.

ooOOoo

Everybody looked up from their data pads as Badesh entered the main room. He nodded at Quinn and the Major walked past Badesh to Treek. Badesh closed the door behind Quinn and strode towards Vette.

"Alderaan, she said that her client is on Alderaan." Badesh eyed the wonky chairs around the table and decided that he wouldn't sit down. "She was broken in the end, so I tried to suggest that she should return to her client. It worked. The Ewok will comply."

Theron stared at him, disbelieve written on his face. "Just like that?"

"Yes," Badesh growled. "Everything is possible with the force." Strangely enough Badesh heard in his mind how a voice that sounded like Vette added: Yes, the force and the probably best drug-induced trip a Ewok ever had.

"Good thing you made progress, we have gone half-way through the information and found nothing useful. And Alderaan wasn't even mentioned." Kalda threw her data pad on the table. "We should head there immediately. I can't shake the feeling that we are on a tight timetable."

Only after Kalda had spoken Badesh realised that he was also assuming that time was of the essence. But why? The Revanites have been undercutting the Empire and the Republic for years. Perhaps it was the idea of a large scale attack on an imperial world, he mused, Arkous had planned to commit a genocide on his own people after all. No, Badesh felt that there was something more… a disturbance in the force? It was very faint and disappeared as soon as he tried to focus on it. At the same time it had a very strong residue. A tremor in the force… If that was the case the Sith mystics should sense it as well. Badesh decided that he needed to talk to the head mystic on Korriban – if the leader of the Revanites was a powerful force-user that he could feel the coming changes through the force they might had the means to track him down.

"Vette, you and Quinn will go to Alderaan with the Agents – I have other business to attend to," Badesh stated hands clasped behind his back. "Perhaps I will able to track down Revan himself."

"Okay, boss! I guess you will take the _Fury_?"

"Indeed, Tovee will fly the ship," he replied.

"Is this some force-user-business?" asked Theron.

"Yes."

"Alright, but without you we will be seriously undermanned," Theron said slowly.

Badesh knew that he was putting Vette and Quinn at risk by not accompanying them. At the same time it seemed unwise to not follow up on a possible force trails. He had to bring in Cipher Nine and her partner.

"I will arrange for back-up, Agent Heian. They will meet you on-site."

"Back-up? Can we trust them?" Kalda sounded sceptical.

Badesh simply glared at her. Yet again she questioned him!

"We can," replied Vette in his stead. "I suggest that we meet up at the space-port. Quinn and I need to get our things from the _Fury_ ; you can bring Treek to your freighter."

"Agreed," said Theron.

Badesh looked at him. A picture from a shirtless Theron came to his mind and he regretted that he would possibly not have the opportunity to interact with him. There was something very vexing and alluring about the Agent, he wanted to touch him and feel his warmth. Perhaps even bite him… the thought of tasting his blood aroused Badesh. He pictured himself biting Theron's shoulder, blood running down his pale skin… suddenly it wasn't Theron anymore but Quinn. Badesh banished the mental image as fast as possible.

ooOOoo

As soon as they arrived on the _Fury_ Vette and Quinn told Badesh about their encounter with Darth Malgus and their suspicion that the Emperor himself was somehow involved in the conspiracy. Or rather Vette had told him, Quinn was unusually quiet and had an almost pained look on his face.

"Do you want to add something, Malavai?" Badesh inquired and reached out through the force. It was no surprise that Quinn's force signature was unfocused.

Quinn pulled himself visibly together and stood straighter than ever. "No, my Lord. I am merely uncomfortable with the thought that the Emperor could have forbidden Darth Malgus to act in the Empire's best interest."

Badesh hesitantly put his hand on Quinn's shoulder. Then he retraced his hand and said calmly: "I will join you as fast as possible on Alderaan. Be careful."

"Of course," said Vette with her trademark smile, "we always are."

"Yes, my Lord." Quinn denoted a bow.

They turned around and left the _Fury_. Badesh commanded Tovee to plot a course to Korriban and retreated in his quarters. Finally he had some privacy and Badesh stripped himself from his armour and took a long shower before he slipped into casual robes.

Badesh felt an inexplicable unease, it wasn't his usual tension that could only be relieved through violence… it was something else, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Thoughts of Theron returned to his mind as he tried to read the latest intelligence reports.

ooOOoo

It seemed strange that the Sith mystics would reside in an old tomb instead in one of the modern buildings build over the recent years as the Sith academy expanded. The air was mouldy and the lights were dim, Badesh snorted when he saw a couple of figures with hoods lingering in the shadows. Everything was too theatrical for his taste. The tomb wasn't even a place of dark power...

A masked Sith in a long robe approached him. "Darth Tenebra, I bid you welcome." Judging from the voice it was an old man.

"Lord Ande, I need information about a disturbance in the force." Badesh clasped his hands behind his back.

"Oh, how fascinating – which one do you want to inquire about?"

"The one that has been festering in the force for the past decades. I caught a glimpse of it, but I am a warrior, not a mystic trained to trace tremors in the force. It felt huge and at the same time… small."

"There are of course several such disturbances… I need to reach out in identify the one you were in contact with, Dark Lord."

"Do as you must," Badesh snarled.

Ande led him into a chamber and sat down in front of a small fire in the middle of the room; he meditated. Badesh felt how Ande's greedy and curious force signature touched his mind, but he restrained himself to shut the man out. After a few minutes the session was over.

"Fascinating, it has been several decades since I have last met anybody who is as powerful in the force as you, Dark Lord. The force favours you, she flows around you like shimmersilk around a young maidens…"

"Skip the colourful analogies," Badesh said curtly.

"Of course, Dark Lord. We are aware of the disturbance – it was first felt about ten years ago in the maelstrom nebula. Since then it has resurfaced a few times but only fleetingly. It is very powerful and yet so very… quiet. Like a virgin's touch…"

Badesh ignored the last comment. "How it that possible? If it is indeed as powerful as you say, how can it be hidden?"

"I do not know," answered Ande surprisingly demure.

"Is there a way to trace it?"

"I am afraid that isn't possible, Dark Lord. It resurfaces too quickly only to disappear again."

"Then I need a map with all the information when and where it was discovered." Would a pattern emerge? It was a long shot but perhaps it was the only way to track down Revan himself.

"Of course, Dark Lord!" Ande bowed and left the room.

Badesh stayed behind and looked around, the room was full of Sith artefacts and old records of the Sith history. If somebody could solve the mystery of the force bond between him and his companions it would possibly be Ande – he was head mystic after all. But Badesh didn't trust him, he wished that his connection remained a secret. It could be considered a weakness after all and Ande could trade that information for personal gain.

Ande returned and gave Badesh a data pad. "The Reclamation Service has filed every force event to study them – I downloaded the ones that have a connection with the disturbance you are looking for, Dark Lord."

Of course – there was no need to rely on other Sith to learn about force bonds. The Imperial Reclamation Service was dedicated to study Sith artefacts and records as well; but they were not force-users. Back on Hoth it had been member of the Reclamation Service that had suggested that Badesh could save Quinn's life with a healing ritual by studying ancient texts – what was his name again?

Before Badesh could muse on the Officer's name he felt another unbalance in the force. At first he immediately suspected that it was the disturbance he was looking for, but the feeling was more familiar – involuntary he turned around and expected to see Vette and Quinn standing behind him. Of course they weren't there… and yet he had clearly felt their force signature.

"Dark Lord?"

Badesh turned on his heel and faced Ande again. He bowed quickly and strode out of the room. There was no doubt in his mind that his friends were in danger. Somehow they had reached out to him through the force bond and since they could only feel distress through it, it meant that they were in grave danger indeed.

As he rushed to the _Fury_ he felt them again. Anger boiled up in Badesh; whoever dared to lay a finger on them was going to regret it. An unfamiliar feeling took hold of him as he boarded the spaceship and ordered Tovee to plot the fastest course to Alderaan; it was a nagging, bitter emotion he couldn't understand.

It intensified as he failed to contact either of this companions; even Cipher Nine didn't answer. Badesh couldn't stand this damn feeling and went into the cargo bay that was used by Vette and Quinn for their combat practice. He began to flail at the practice dummy with his bare hands until it was torn to shreds. Finally he calmed down and began to meditate in an attempt to contact Vette and Quinn through the force.


	14. The Organa Fortress

Treek had insisted that she wanted to go with HK to their client – but the droid had been already destroyed. Theron finally came up with the idea of attaching HK's head to Treeks neck with a string. Vette found it creepy and sad as Treek started to talk to the bodiless head dangling from her neck. Badesh must have done quite a number on her mind. Although they hadn't tortured Treek it still was unsettling to think that they had mind-fucked her so badly that she was still under a trance even after almost a day.

"Treek and HK will tell boss what we have done," Treek mumbled and softly stroked the droid's head. "Yes, we will… tell him about our great accomplishment."

"Of course you will," Cipher Nine crouched down next to Treek and smiled at her. "You are now on Alderaan – you should go see your boss."

Kalda and Theron observed Nine, they were visibly distrustful, even after Vette had repeatedly told them that she was trustworthy.

"Yes, Treek and HK will…" Treek repeated and started to walk towards the hangar door.

Vette, Quinn, Theron, Kalda and Nine stayed behind.

"The signal is loud and clear," said Theron while looking on his data pad. It showed a small map and a yellow triangle marked Treek's position.

"Good, Vector will keep a visual on her." Nine checked her sniper rifle, crocked it up and hid it under her long robes. "We should wait about ten minutes and follow the signal."

"Agreed." Quinn glanced at his chronometer. "We should split up, we would draw too much attention when we travel together."

"Alderaanians are sometimes not too fond of non-humans," Kalda frowned, "I think it would be best if I partner up with the Major, Vette and Theron should work together – I assume that you preferably work alone… Nina?"

Nine nodded. It was clear that Kalda had suggested the teams because neither she nor Theron trusted the Imperials. Vette had anticipated as much, in fact everything else would have surprised her.

ooOOoo

To Vette's amazement she and Theron were led out of the city into the woods. They exchanged worried looks but kept following the signal. Finally they reached a compound or rather an estate which was hidden behind large fir trees.

"According to my map this building belongs to House Organa; usually they are firmly aligned with the Republic," said Theron and pulled his binoculars from his bag. "I don't see anything suspicious."

Vette activated her holo, Cipher Nine's figure appeared.

"Can Vector confirm that Treek is in the Organa building?" asked Vette.

"Yes, according to him she simply walked through the gates and vanished in the main…" suddenly the holopicture flickered and simply vanished.

Vette reached for her blasters as fast as she could, but out of nowhere several humanoids with dark mask appeared and pressed a strange smelling cloth against her mouth and nose. Everything went black.

ooOOoo

The first thing Vette heard after she slowly awakened from her loss of consciousness was the steady humming of a force field, he noise gave her an immediate headache. She held her head as she opened her eyes, at first everything was a haze, but eventually her vision cleared up and to her horror she saw that Theron and she weren't the only ones captured: there were six cells, and every one of the was occupied by her companions. On her left side were Kalda, then Quinn and then Theron. She was surprised to see that even Nine and Vector were caged; they Imperial Agents were unconscious. Whoever had orchestrated this was really, really good – either that or they had been played.

Before she could speak with the other a door slid open and a tall blond human woman appeared. The way she carried herself told Vette that she had military training.

"That's Giselle Organa," whispered Theron.

The name wasn't familiar to Vette. Giselle walked slowly past every single cell before she stopped and addressed them.

"It seems that for once it paid off to hire out-side help to keep an eye on everything suspicious. You followed the Ewok, that means you know too much already. I'm only here to offer you a quick death; tell me now who you are and who you are working for and you won't slowly waste away under the care of my interrogation droids." Giselle waited for a few seconds before she continued speaking. "No? Well, then have it you way."

Without further hesitation she turned on her heel and left the room. As soon as the door had slid close behind her, Vette heard how Kalda began to swear.

"That wretched traitor! Screw her and her whole force-forsaken clan!" Kalda calmed down and took a deep breath. "Okay, does anyone have a back-up plan?"

"None that would work with us all ensnarled in these cages," answered Quinn. "I have to admit that I'm amazed that they were able to capture us all at the exact same time."

"Indeed," concurred Kalda, "I suspect that they hired House Rist – a clan well known for their stealth techniques."

"That doesn't matter now," replied Theron, "we have to get out of here. And fast! Giselle Organa is a seasoned leader and has fought many battles. She isn't known for her leniency."

Vette started to inspect her cell and hoped to find a weakness in the technology that captured them. It took her only about five minutes to confirm what she had already suspected: Giselle had not only hired the best to capture them, she also had bought the best force-fields money could buy. Vette wasn't scared, but she was very, very worried. Was this the end?

It seemed that Kalda had reached the same conclusion; with an uncharacteristically low and flat voice she said: "Theron? Perhaps it's time for a miracle."

Vette now turned her attention to the SIS-Agents. It was a strange choice of words… miracle. Theron nodded and touched slightly his implant on his temple. Vette somehow expected that he pulled some sort of device – perhaps a lock pick – from it, but nothing of the sorts happened. Theron simply closed his eyes and begun to draw deep breaths. Vette kept her eyes peeled on him, but for the next ten minutes Theron didn't move. From time to time she glanced at Quinn, he was also focused on Theron.

Suddenly the door slid open again and a spherical droid floated into the room, follow by two guards. They strode to the cell Theron was in, deactivated the force field and simply dragged him into the middle of the room, where they strapped him on a table.

"Anything to say?" asked the taller of the guards.

"Yes, your breath stinks, perhaps you should consider…" the man slapped Theron.

"You will regret that; droid – begin."

Vette wanted to avert her eyes, but at the same time she couldn't look away as the droid floated over Theron and lowered a set of hocks and needles into his chest.

"Kalda, don't look…" she barely managed to whisper before Theron's screams rang through the room.

Vette felt fear and anger, she gritted her teeth. Badesh would find them and… he would avenge them! She directed her gaze to Quinn, he was looking at her as well. His presence calmed her although Theron's screams didn't stop. Quinn held her gaze as he slowly reached out and touched the force field, in a matter of a split second his usual impassive face was screwed up in agony and he fell to the floor. Vette could simply stare at him. What… Then she realised what he was doing: there was one way left to let Badesh know that they were in trouble – provided that the force-bond even worked that way. But what if it didn't work? It didn't matter – they had to try it.

Vette gritted her teeth and punched with her left hand into the force field. Hot pain shot through her entire body and she fell on her knees. She panted and stared at her left hand, it was bruised and slightly shaking.

"What the fuck are you doing?" hissed Kalda. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" Despite her harsh tone it was clearly written on her face that she was worried about them.

Vette tried to rearrange her face into a smile, but she failed. "You wanted a miracle, didn't you? We are trying to deliver it."

Quinn was slowly getting on his feet. He looked dishevelled and visibly struggling for his countenance. It pained Vette to see how he reached out again and convulsed in agony before he slumped down again. She stared at the force field in front of her and the mere thought of the coming anguish made her sweat. After a moment's hesitation she reached out.

ooOOoo

After half an hour they were finished with Theron. To his credit – he had managed to keep quiet about their mission. Vette watched how the guards dragged Theron back to his cell, he was only half-conscious and apparently seriously injured. His shirt was blood-stained and he was very pale. Vette dreaded who they would pick next to interrogate. She and Quinn had both touched the force field several times – it had taken a high toll on them. Vette's left hand shook violently and was bruised as well as burnt. The pain was hot and dull at the same time, she felt like she would throw up any minute. And Quinn looked as bad as Vette felt.

"I always suspected that Imperials were masochists. Take the Togruta next!" said a guard with an even voice. "If the Imps insist on doing our work for us we shouldn't stop them."

Vette stared at Kalda, she had a determined expression on her face as they lowered her force-field. She struggled and tried to hit the guards, but they simply shot her in the leg and grabbed her as she fell down on the floor. As the strapped her down on the table she made eye contact with Vette. Despite her being a strong woman she had a look of horror written across her face.

"You saw what we did to your partner, girl. Now is the time to speak: Who are you and your associates? Who do you work for?"

"Fuck you!" shouted Kalda.

Vette felt how an iron grip closed around her heart as the droid resumed his barbaric work. She averted her gaze and buried her face in her hands. They wouldn't make it; there was no way that Badesh would be fast enough to save them. It would take at least 15 hours to travel from Korriban to Alderaan even if the force-bond worked – how was he supposed to find them? Vette forced herself to stop thinking about the hopelessness of her situation. No, she wouldn't give up! There was no merit in despair, perhaps Nine had a plan to escape? She turned her head to their cells.

Nine and Vector had woken up – Vette hadn't noticed before – and were silently talking to each other. Her hopes sunk again when she saw how Vector shook his head. Badesh was probably still their only hope, it seemed that they couldn't escape on their own. Vette looked at Theron who was still lying on the floor of his cell, drifting in and out of consciousness. There was only one way out – they had to buy time until Badesh arrived; and that meant that Theron and Kalda weren't certainly the last ones who had to suffer.

"Quinn, if Badesh is on his way he still needs more time," she said as quietly as possible. Vette assumed that the guards wouldn't hear her over Kalda's screams.

"I agree – but I assume that Organa isn't going to kill us after just a session of interrogation. If my calculations are correct he should arrive on Alderaan after we have been tortured twice," he replied coolly, but Vette still registered a slight tremble in his voice. "The guards are professionals; they will give us a few hours to recuperate before they begin anew."

"Can't we just tell them something to keep them busy?"

"It is a possibility, but there is a high risk involved with that strategy: They have six prisoners, they could start killing after the intel proves to be wrong."

Vette started knitting her hands together lest Quinn wouldn't see that were shaking. "I see… well, that is one shitty situation." She made an effort to smile. "At least we will suffer together, a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved…" Vette stopped in mid-sentence. "Sorry, that was a terrible pun… I… I am just scared."

Quinn's usual professional mask slipped for a moment and revealed a very, very worried and frightened look on his face. "I regret that I can't kiss you right now, Vette… I am scared too." He looked at her in a caring way. "Just remember: when the droid starts, grit your teeth. Otherwise you might bite off your tongue."

Vette bleached and nodded.

"The Major is right, Vette," added Nine. "And don't try to act as if you were unconscious – that never works and could cause them to shock you even harder."

"The star-signs freeze. We are weary." Vette had no clue what Vector meant by that but she assumed that he wanted to comfort her.

"I assume you already tried to contact your Kilik-Tribe through the hive-mind, Vector?" asked Quinn.

"The nest hears our song, but we are not important enough to send a Kilik war party to our location. We suspect that our dance among the stars will end here."

Vette leaned a far as possible towards Nine and Vector. "Listen, Badesh is on his way – we just have to endure it until he arrives." She tried to sound more secure than she was.

Kalda's screams had stopped. Vette could only watch as the guards dragged her to her cell. Then they deactivated Vectors force-field and jerked him towards the droid.


	15. Agony and Ecstasy

For Badesh agony and ecstasy had always been intertwined. And yet the day had come in which he learned that there could be pain without pleasure. Every time he felt Vette and Quinn through the force he felt so helpless that he had even stopped to wreck the interior of the _Fury_. On an intellectual level Badesh had known that of these emotions were two separate things. No, it wasn't the knowledge that almost drove him insane with fear and regret, it was the emotional realisation.

His friends were hurting and there was nothing he could do about it! What if Vette and Quinn died? Who would calm him down? No, that was the wrong question… who would know him? Who would truly know him? He had to hurry! He had to save them!

Badesh sat in his quarters and stared at the chronometer in his computer as if he would will time itself to speed up on his behalf. There was still one hour left before he arrived on Alderaan.

Suddenly his personal holocommunicator beeped. Badesh hastily put his mask on, pushed the receive-button and said unusually loud: "Yes?"

"Lieutenant Talos Drellik, Imperial Reclamation Service, at your service. I was told that you wanted to speak to me, my Lord?"

Badesh was relieved that he could finally get a hold of Talos. His superiors had told Badesh that he had been on a mission; it seemed that he had finally returned.

"Yes, I need your expertise on force-bonds, Lieutenant. I assume that you have heard of occurrences in which Jedi formed bonds with their apprentices?"

"Padawans, my Lord," replied Talos.

"What?"

"Jedi call their apprentices Padawans…"

"I don't care!" Badesh yelled. He regretted his outburst immediately. He needed Talos, there was no time for Sith caprice. "Lieutenant, time is of the essence – please just tell me about force-bonds as quickly as possible."

"My apologizes, my Lord. In the records I have read so far force-bonds usually manifested only between powerful Jedi Masters and their closest Padawans, predated usually by an experience like fighting together and/or healing each other. It is very rare, there have been theories what finally triggers this bonding, but in my professional opinion they are only guesses – we simply don't have enough data to establish a working theory."

Badesh had feared as much; it was a rare thing after all – and since it did only happen to Jedi the Sith and therefore the Empire didn't know much about it. "Are there cases in which force-sensitives establish a force-bond with non-force-sensitives?"

"None that I have heard of, my Lord. But the Sith force mystics might know more about that than me."

Badesh ignored Talos' last comment. "Do you have records on Jedi tracking each other through the force-bond?"

If Talos found Badesh's question odd he didn't show it. "Regrettably not, my Lord. But I could send you our files on Jedi and Sith who tracked people through the force."

"Send the records as quickly as possible, Lieutenant!" Badesh felt nervous, he had to work quickly to hope to find his friends.

"Right away, my Lord." Talos bowed.

"I want you to keep quiet about our conversation – and thank you." Badesh was a little surprised about himself as he actually thanked Talos. The stress seemed to take its toll.

Talos bowed again and then his picture vanished.

A few minutes later Badesh received the data. He immediately started to browse through the texts, hoping that he would find information that would help him to save Vette and Quinn in time.

ooOOoo

Exactly one hour and 4 minutes later Badesh stepped out of the Pallista Spaceport and set his sights on the city in front of him. The last known coordinates of Quinn and Vette were that they had landed here and were about to follow the Ewok to her client. Badesh wore a plain brown robe with his usual mask, a Sith was always bound to get attention – a Jedi was more low-key.

He closed his eyes and tried to picture Quinn's force signature, its energy and taste. After a few minutes he felt like he was close enough, in the recordings an unknown Sith had described the meditation as 'letting the force signature guide the hunter to his prey'. At first he felt nothing, but then Badesh felt a very weak resonance of Quinn's signature, almost like a ghost of a force signature. He had to focus harder! But even after several tries he still couldn't feel more than a shadow of a force signature. But… perhaps that could still lead him to the right place.

Badesh opened his eyes and walked towards the crossing from which he had felt the signature. After a few metres he meditated again and got another notion of Quinn's force signature. Badesh was frustrated that he had to take little steps in order to find his friends, but at the same time he was amazed that it was even possible to trace a force signature that should have faded a long time ago, from a non-force-user nonetheless. The only reason he was able to feel this faint presence was probably because of the force-bond. Badesh was now certain that he would find whoever was responsible for Vette's and Quinn's pain – and they would pay dearly for this travesty, he would make sure of that. The prospect of a possible bloodbath amongst his enemies excited Badesh, but he shook off this usually very welcome sensation. No, indulging in his pleasures wasn't what he wanted to think about now. More importantly was that he saved his… loved ones as fast as possible.

Badesh worked his way half-way through the city when he was interrupted by a tugging at his sleeve. Annoyed he looked around and saw that a little human boy was standing behind him.

"You are a Jedi, aren't you?" the boy asked exhilarated.

Badesh was about to simply shake the nuisance off but then he registered that a young woman and a man, probably the boy's parents approached. There was no time to lose and but he needed to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

"I am sorry that Jerek bothered you, Master Jedi," said the woman. "But you know how children are – they simply adore Jedi."

Badesh was confused. By the stars! Why would anyone adore these bloodless, dogmatic… "Of course," he lied. "I you would excuse me, I am on an important mission for the, uh, Jedi Council."

"Can you really lift things with the force?" asked the boy and grabbed his sleeve again.

Badesh looked at the man and the woman, but they simply stood there instead of disciplining their offspring.

"Yes, but I have important Jedi-business to attend to…"

"Show me!" squeaked the boy.

His patience was wearing thin, Badesh simply wanted to kill the whole damn family, but instead he forced himself to stay calm. He used to force to lift a small stone lying on the ground and let it fly into the boy's hand. The boy laughed whole-heartedly and beamed at Badesh.

"Thank you, Master Jedi, you made Jerek very happy." The man shook his hand and Badesh sincerely hoped that they would stop harassing him.

Badesh bowed curtly and walked briskly away. Small and quick foot-steps behind him made him groan. Sure enough someone was tugging at his sleeve. He turned again and stared at the boy.

"That is for you, Master Jedi!" The boy handed Badesh a little toy figure and ran away.

Badesh stood there, dumbstruck and looked at the small figure in his hand. It was a farmer with a shovel in his hand. Badesh put the gift in his pocket, turned on his heel and strode in the direction where he had last felt Quinn's force signature.

ooOOoo

The estate was hidden in the woods, Badesh saw no guards in the vicinity. Yet he felt several presences… That meant that they used stealth generators. Badesh now understood how they managed to capture his friends. In this moment he felt again Quinn's presence as if he stood right next to him; they were hurting him again. Badesh gritted his teeth and strode towards the estate. There was no way that he could stage a surprise attack, he could as well mount a full-scale attack worthy of a Dark Council member.

Before he could reach the estate's yard five opponents approached him. Badesh didn't see them, but he could very clearly feel them. With one fluent move he drew his lightsaber and killed three of them, then he jumped at the last two and cut them in half. He rushed towards the estate, fuelled by rage, excitement and sorrow.

Until he reached the front door he cut through another ten stealthed opponents, as soon as he blew the door open with a mighty force push two dozen droids greeted him with a hail of blaster bolts. Badesh felt one again Quinn's presence next to him, no… he could feel him. His force signature and Vette's were close by! He deflected the blaster shots and lifted one door wing which lay on the floor with the force and placed it before him. Then he hurled the metal piece against the droids and jumped at the same time at them. The door crushed five droid, Badesh destroyed another six at he landed and emitted a force wave. Behind the droids a detachment of soldiers appeared, Badesh saw that some had hanging hand grenades from their belt. Badesh jumped at the remaining droid and emitted another force wave. At the same time he threw his lightsaber at the soldiers and used his left hand to pull the pins of the grenades with the force. Just as the lightsaber returned to his hand the explosion from the grenades shook the hallway.

As he walked over the bloody remains of his opponents Badesh reached out through the force and felt clearly that Vette and Quinn were somewhere beneath him – probably one or two levels underground. Badesh saw that a lift door was in one of the side-passages. He forced the door open and looked down – it was a rather large freight elevator and judging from the sound it made the platform was moving. He felt that at least ten opponents were on their way from below to him. Badesh ignited his lightsaber and jumped down. He fell right on two soldiers and crushed them under his weight, he killed the rest except one. He simply yanked the blaster from the nautolan male and grabbed him by his collar.

"Were are the prisoners?"

"In the cellar! I beg you…"

In the meantime the elevator had stopped moving, it was again on the ground-level.

"Is this the right button?" Badesh asked and pointed at the lowest button.

"Yes!"

Badesh activated the elevator and casually pressed the soldiers head against the wall as the elevator moved down. By the time he had reached the cellar the face of the nautolan soldier was reamed. Badesh let go of the maimed body and stepped out of the elevator.

Before him were four soldier, their rifles trained on him. Badesh felt with satisfaction sour fear coming from them. Suddenly one of them let her weapon fall and lifted her hands in the air.

"That won't save you," Badesh roared and dashed towards them. The other three opened fire, but he deflected the bolt easily and impaled them. Then he turned to the one who had surrendered.

"Who is responsible for this?"

"Giselle Organa is our commandeering officer! Please, I have two children…" the soldier begged.

Badesh simply crushed her windpipe with his bare hands. Nobody would escape from this alive, nobody who had dared to lay a hand on Vette and Quinn!

He felt their force signature behind the door at the end of the hallway. Badesh rushed to it and with one mighty force-push he blew the doors away, ready to slay any opposition left. Sweet anger was raging through him, but it died down the moment that he saw Quinn's lifeless body lying on table. Over him hovered a torture droid. Blood was running down Quinn's naked chest, he was covered in bruises and cuts. The time seemed to freeze. Badesh felt like he had stared for an eternity at Quinn, then he lifted his gaze and saw Vette sitting on the floor of her cell. She held her side and was also bruised and bloodied. Next to her stood Theron; strangely enough he had an almost disappointed look on his face. No, it was more like shock…

Then time seemed to unfreeze and Badesh saw from the corner of his eye how the two guards who had supervised the interrogations reached for their blasters. He jumped at the first and knocked him down with the hilt of his lightsaber. Then he threw his lightsaber at the other and cut off his right hand. The man slumped down on the floor, holding his bloody stump. Badesh cut the droid with his weapon in half and force-lifted both guards in the air and slammed them against the wall. Then he rushed to Quinn. Badesh ripped the bounds away and leaned down.

"Malavai… can you hear me?" He stroked the other man's cheek softly and felt a sting in his eyes. "Everything is going to be alright."

Quinn coughed and slowly opened his eyes. Badesh looked at him and waited to hear the voice he loved muttering 'my Lord'.

"B… Badesh?" stammered Quinn and slowly lifted his right hand to touch Badesh's mask. The Sith ripped the mask away and threw it away. Then he took Quinn's hand and guided it back to his face.

"Yes, I am here – I will kill everybody for you. Rest now, I need to look after Vette." Badesh pulled a small kolto injector from his pocket and gave it to Quinn and walked briskly to Vette's cell.


	16. Punishment

When she heard the muffled explosions Vette suspected that Badesh had arrived. There was no doubt that he would tear through every defence the Organas had set up; she stared at Quinn who lay on the table and was tortured by the droid. Seeing her lover bleeding and screaming hurt her so badly that she had started weeping. She would kill them, let them suffer for putting Quinn through this horrible torture!

Suddenly the door was blasted open and Badesh stepped into the room. Behind him a hallway smeared with blood was visible. His brown robes were burnt, ripped and also covered in blood. She wept more, but this time they were tears of joy. They would be freed!

Badesh subdued the guards quickly and bent down to Quinn. Next to her she could hear how Theron sucked in his breath as Badesh caressed Quinn ever so softly. After this display of affection any bystander knew without doubt that the Sith loved Quinn.

After a moment Badesh strode towards her cell and deactivated the force field. Then he knelt down and embraced Vette. Never in a million light-years Vette had thought it possible for Badesh to actually hug somebody on his own accord. She smiled and leaned her head against his and was surprised to feel warm tears moisten her lekku.

"Good to see you, boss," Vette whispered.

"Good to see you too, Vette," replied Badesh smilingly. Then he put his left arm under her legs and lifted her up, Vette felt strangely as Badesh carried her over to the table on which Quinn had already begun to vet himself with kolto. Quinn stood up and Badesh put her on the table. Vette grimaced, every fibre in her body seemed to hurt. Of course Quinn immediately begun to inject kolto to lessen her pain. When he was close enough she grabbed his collar and drew him down to her to kiss him. Quinn didn't resist. In fact he passionately kissed her back. When they broke the kiss, Vette turned her head and saw that Badesh had liberated Vector and Nine and was on his way to Kalda and Theron.

"Can you move?" asked Quinn with a sorrowful expression on his face.

Vette sat up, most of the pain was gone, but she wasn't feeling too well. "Yes, but it still hurts… don't you have any more kolto?"

"Unfortunately not, I used some for me, so that I could function as medic. But we need larger kolto supplies."

Vector approached them, he looked remarkably well for a man who had been tortured twice in the last 20 hours. "Our enhanced Kilik-physiology enables us to heal quickly, Major. We will search the fallen for kolto packs."

Vette rose to her feet. She wanted to see how Nine and the others were doing.

As she was about to walk over to Nine she saw that Badesh stood in front of Theron's cell, the force-field was still active. She stepped next to him.

"What's up – why haven't you freed him?"

"Agent Heian is force-sensitive and apparently trained in the force. But I didn't sense it before. I wonder what that means…" Badesh replied, hands clasped behind his back. "How did you hide from me, little Jedi?"

Theron simply stared at Badesh, sweat was running down his temples. Kalda's force-field was already down, but she was in a bad shape and didn't say anything either.

"Theron deactivated his implant after we were captured…" said Vette slowly. "Perhaps it was some kind of force inhibitor?"

"Possibly, but we have to discuss it later." Badesh deactivated Theron's force field and returned to the two guards who had interrogated them.

Vette crouched down next to Theron and Kalda. They were looking very pale. "Vector is looking for some kolto – perhaps we can fix you up."

"Vette," panted Kalda, "can I ask a favour?"

"Sure, what is it?" asked Vette. She expected Kalda to ask for water.

"Promise me that you will kill us quickly. Please don't let us suffer."

"Wha… what?" Vette was taken aback. Hadn't she just told them that they would be vetted?

"The only reason you needed us was to track down the assassin, we aren't of any use to Badesh anymore. I assume that he will kill us. I have seen what he can do, there is only one thing that I ask of you – make it merciful."

"Kalda…" begun Theron, "I don't think that they will kill us. Otherwise Badesh would already have done that – besides, I don't think that he works that way."

Kalda frowned at him, but she didn't answer.

Vette left them and went to Nine who was already receiving medical treatment from Quinn.

"One day you have to tell me how Lord Badesh did find us. Did he feel your pain? Was that the reason why to pounded like mad against the force fields?" Nine inquired. She looked less pale than before.

"That is all I can do at the moment, Agent," said Quinn stiffly. "I need to save some kolto for the Republicans, otherwise it prove difficult to move quickly enough."

Quinn was about to move on to Kalda and Theron, Vette grabbed his arm. "Badesh just told me that Theron is force-sensitive – be cautious."

He nodded and left to attend to his medical duties.

Vette helped Nine on her feet and together they walked towards Badesh who was standing in front of the two guards. "Agent," the Sith said and nodded towards Nine. "You and Vette can guard these two miserable bastards. I will search the estate for Giselle Organa – it shouldn't take long, I suspect she has barricaded herself in a room – these republic officers seem to lack self-preservation as soon they face Sith." Without waiting for their answers he put his mask back on and walked out of the room towards the elevator.

Nine took a blaster from the floor and leaned against the table. "You two are professionals, aren't you?" she asked.

The men nodded.

"Good, in this case you know better than to beg – so keep quiet until Lord Badesh returns."

Vette looked over her shoulder and saw that Kalda and Quinn were supporting Theron and were headed to the table. Vector came to help and together the lifted Theron on the table.

"We had very little kolto left and I decided to use it on Kalda – after all Jedi are known for their self-healing abilities," said Quinn dryly.

"I am not a Jedi – I am merely force-sensitive but I decided that I didn't want to become a Jedi a long time ago. So, would somebody bandage me or are you going to let me bleed to death?"

"Of course I will indulge you, _Agent_ ," replied Quinn and tore long stripes from Theron's shirt to cover the wounds on his chest.

"We are fascinated, Agent Heian. Why did you choose to work for the SIS instead of becoming a Jedi?" asked Vector. Vette got the impression that he was honestly curious.

"Long story," retorted Theron curtly.

"Oh, do go on," smirked Nine, "I think we have got a few minutes before Lord Badesh returns with Organa."

"No, really, it's a very long and a very boring story. Perhaps you should entertain us with an anecdote from your life, Nina."

"Alright, once I met an SIS-Agent who could've been a paragon of light and justice and decided to live and work in the gutter with the scum of the galaxy…"

"You are too hard on yourself, Nina – to me you and your imperial friends are not the scum of the galaxy," deadpanned Theron. "Although some in the SIS might say that."

Vette giggled at that despite the dull pain that still seared through her body and got an annoyed look from Nine. "What? That was a good come-back!"

"We agree with Vette, Agent – the humorous comment was well placed," added Vector earnestly.

Nine rolled her eyes at Vector and turned her attention back on the prisoners.

Everybody tensed up as they heard how the elevator door slid open, but the relaxed as they saw that it was Badesh who was carrying somebody over his shoulder – Vette had no doubt that he had captured Giselle Organa. Badesh threw his prisoner roughly next to the guards, it was indeed Giselle Organa, she looked like hell: There was one large bruise on her cheek and she was bleeding from her mouth. Apparently she had fought against her captor – but of course a skilled force-user like Badesh had no problem subduing her.

"Do what you want with me, Sith! I won't talk!" Giselle spit.

"I don't need you to lead me to Revan or whoever is responsible, General," replied Badesh with a low voice. Vette looked at him; so his trip to the mystics had been fruitful? "I doubt anyway that you would know where the Revanites are hiding – you are but a pawn."

"My Lord, shouldn't we at least try to coerce information from her?" Quinn stood next to Badesh, but not in his usual up-tight posture, instead he had a pained look on his face.

"And we will, but we don't have much time – soon reinforcement troops could appear and we should leave before that," answered Badesh. "But firstly I will show them what happens to people who dare to act against… the Empire."

Vette was surprised to see that Badesh pulled a small toy figure from his pocket.

Badesh went down on one knee and showed the toy Giselle. "Today I learned that Alderaanians appreciate force tricks. I hope you enjoy it as well, General." The figure began to float and slowly moved towards one of the guards. It was directed at his right eye. It floated closer and the soldier squinted, but the toy didn't stop, instead slowly blood and then another clear liquid started to pour from the man's eye as the toy drilled itself through his eyeball. The man screamed and tried to grab the toy with his hands, but Badesh simply cut them off and watched him twitch and shout in pain. Vette averted her gaze and did only hear a dry snap as Badesh broke the man's bones. But his screaming didn't stop. She had thought about revenge and had even wished that Badesh would be brutal in extracting his revenge – but she regretted that she had ever thought about it. Nobody, not even these men deserved this.

Finally the screams stopped. Vette stared at Quinn, he looked at her and grabbed her hand.

"A lightsaber can cut through durasteel – but it can also melt one's skin…" she heard Badesh say and then the humming sound of a lightsaber was heard.

"I don't want to see or even hear this!" yelled Theron. "Someone – bring me outside before I throw up!"

Vette forced herself to look at Badesh and the prisoners. The dead guard was bloodied beyond recognition. Giselle and the other guard were in absolute horror. Badesh glanced over his shoulder at his companions.

"You all can wait outside, but please be careful – I won't be long. I just have to keep my promise that I will make them suffer." Badesh's tone wasn't hateful but matter-of-factly. "Perhaps the General will reconsider her stance on sharing information with us after I'm done with this one."

Nobody had to say anything, it was clear that none of them was agog to witness whatever punishment Badesh intended to hand out. Vector and Vette supported Theron as they walked to the elevator. As the door slid close the last thin Vette heard was the hissing sound of burnt flesh and screams.

ooOOoo

True to his word Badesh appeared about a quarter of an hour later outside and strode towards Vette and the other who had hid in the forest.

"Did she talk in the end?" asked Nine.

"No, but she did scream," replied Badesh calmly. "Very much." He opened his hand and Vette saw that the toy figure lay in it. It still had blood on it. "I decided to keep it – it was a gift after all."

"By the stars!" muttered Theron as he stared at the toy.

"I will call a shuttle – we have to get back to the _Fury_. After Quinn has vetted everybody we will decide a course of action. And of course we will listen to Agent Heian's story."

Theron wiped shuttle droid's memory of the flight. He was still quiet injured and was suffering the after-effects from the torture – Vette thought that it really showed how skilled he as a slicer was that he could pull it off under these circumstances.

She didn't miss how Badesh kept his eyes peeled on Theron during the shuttle ride. At first she had thought that he wanted to make sure that he couldn't pull of some Jedi trick, but when she registered that his glances sometimes slid over Theron's chest Vette began to suspect that Badesh also had other reasons to stare at him.

She was a little surprised; it was clear that Badesh was still in love with Quinn and yet he stared at Theron in this way. Come to think of it… why didn't Badesh lust over Quinn as he did with Theron? Even the way Badesh had kissed Quinn back then after their celebration party, it had been more coy had she had ever thought that a Sith could be. She had seen him look at Quinn in a loving way on countless occasions, but these gazes seemed… chaste.


	17. Secrets

While Quinn was patching the others up Badesh took a quick shower and threw his bloodied robes into the fresher. Instead of wearing his heavy battle armour he decided to wear his black tunic he usually wore aboard the _Fury_. After the last day he simply wasn't in the mood to play the role of the relentless Sith anymore, no armour, no mask.

As soon as he was dressed he stopped by the Medbay. Quinn was about to fix up Theron by skilfully applying kolto and other drugs. Finally he scanned Theron; probably to make sure that there was no internal bleeding.

"You are good to go, Agent Heian," Quinn said stiffly turned to load the injector with fresh kolto as Theron got up. "Agent Biss, if you may…"

Kalda groaned as she lay down on the bedside. "You know, for an Imp you are actually a pretty good medic, Major."

Badesh was amused about her stubbornness. In her own way she reminded him much of Quinn, she was very patriotic and at the same time practical. How strange that he had thought at first that she was like Vette; was it because she was an alien woman?

"How gracious of you," replied Quinn prideful as ever and injected her with a syringe.

Kalda glanced at Badesh, then she let her head fall back on the bedside. "I guess thanks are in order for not letting us croak in that hole… my Lord."

"I would like to thank you too," interjected Theron who stood next to the bedside in a more rigid manner that usual. "Although I would choose less vulgar words than the previous speaker."

"Agent Heian, care to join me in the mess hall?" asked Badesh in a way that made it clear that it wasn't a question at all.

Theron looked uncomfortable. "Sure."

Badesh led the way and reached out through the force was they walked through the _Fury_ , Theron's force signature had considerably dimmed down. Had he activated the implants?

Badesh replicated a lentil stew and sat down. Theron hesitated shortly and replicated a soup and sat down across from him.

"Tell me about your decision to leave the Jedi training." Badesh shoved a spoonful in his mouth and looked at Theron.

"So, is this the much dreaded imperial interrogation they warned us about in the SIS academy? A diner with a Sith Lord?" joked Theron but his smile seemed a little too forced, even Badesh saw that.

"You just were tortured and thought you were going to die and still kept your mouth shut. Of course I could hurt you even more, but perhaps I should just ask… republic worm."

Theron froze. "Did… did you just make one of your Sith jokes?"

"Yes… at least partly."

"Oookay… well, there isn't much to add. The Jedi lifestyle simply wasn't agreeable with me. So, as you probably already guessed, this" Theron tapped at the implant, "supresses my connection to the force – otherwise I wouldn't be a very effective operative when big bad Sith like you could feel my presence."

"Your connection to the force is very raw, I doubt that you could bent it to your will to manipulate it. Why did you deactivate your implant?"

In this moment Kalda and Vette appeared in the mess hall. Vette replicated a broth and a coffee for herself and a stew for Kalda and they sat down beside the men.

"You haven't answered the question… why you did you deactivate your implant?" repeated Badesh.

"Kalda and he were hoping for a miracle," answered Vette in Theron's stead.

"How interesting, and what kind of miracle would that be? Did you try to use the force?" Badesh thought about it for a moment. "No, that's not it… you are too untrained." Then he saw the cup of coffee Vette was drinking, and the remembered Theron's comment on how his mother would react if she saw that a Sith was drinking from the mug she had given her son. "Did you try to contact your mother?" Badesh finally asked and he knew the moment that he posed the question that he was right. Theron's force signature spiked shortly, but his face remained impassive.

"I will answer your question if you answer mine," Theron replied slowly.

"Are you sure you want to go down this path?" Kalda frowned at Theron.

"Yes, I am. So, do we have a deal?"

Badesh mused shortly, then he nodded.

"Although my connection to the force is artificially dimmed down, I was able to feel your power back then when you crushed our table. And I even felt it more clearly in the Organa estate. You could be the most powerful force user I have ever met – there is no way that you are still an apprentice. Who are you? And why did you lie about your station?"

"I thought you just wanted to ask _one_ question," interjected Vette.

Theron smiled. "Of course, so I settle for this question: What is your actual rank and title?"

Badesh stared at Theron, then he averted his gaze and looked at Vette. She shrugged. Should he tell the truth? Did it really matter at this point? No… he could afford to be honest; there was nothing Theron and Kalda could do with this knowledge, at least not now.

"I am Darth Tenebra, member of the Dark Council and Head of Imperial and Sith Intelligence. Badesh is merely my given name."

Kalda immediately tensed up. "Fuck! We have been working with the Dark Council all this time? We invited the Head of Imperial and Sith Intelligence on our freighter? Shit! That's…" she broke off.

"I don't think that we worked with the entire Dark Council. It's just you, isn't it?" Theron narrowed his eyes. "That why you came personally to Alderaan instead of simply ordering someone to do it."

"Yes." Badesh put his spoon down and stared at Theron. "And now you answer my question."

"Alright – it's true, I tried to contact my mother, she is a Jedi."

Quinn, Vector and Nine entered the mess hall. The way Quinn's eyebrow rose as he looked at Theron indicated that he had heard his last sentence.

"Since the first time we met I always thought that your force signature is familiar… I thought that we had perhaps met before, but now I suspect that I met your mother. What is her name?" Badesh thought about the Jedi he had force-choked through the holocommunicator on Tatooine, Sornavi Chan, it had to be someone who was still alive after all.

Theron suddenly began to smile and leaned back. "It doesn't matter who she is."

"If I had to guess I would say that your last name isn't Heian, it's Chan isn't it?"

The reaction was immediate, Theron's smile died on his lips, and Kalda simply stared at Badesh in a shocked way.

"I… I…" stammered Theron. "That's impossible, where in the galaxy would you have met her?"

Badesh allowed himself to smile slightly. "We only… spoke over holo, but it was enough to pick up her force-signature."

"The _Brentaal Star_ … that was you, wasn't it?" Theron stared at Vette. "And you were there too."

Badesh's mind went into overdrive. By the force! Theron wasn't talking about Sornavi Chan, he was talking about Satele Shan, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order!

"Are you alright, boss?" asked Vette. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

Badesh took a deep breath. "I was referring to a Jedi named Sornavi Chan, but your reference to the _Brentaal Star_ tells me you mistook the name for the last name of your mother… Satele Shan."

"Wow!" exclaimed Vette.

"I second to that," mumbled Quinn.

The expression on Therons face became harried. Kalda simply sat there, staring in her soup.

"How interesting," Nine stepped next to Theron. "And how juicy."

"Actually it isn't that 'juicy'." Everybody turned their attention to Vector. "As our time as diplomat, before we joined the nest and Imperial Intelligence, we learned that Jedi can have children, they are simply required to sever their ties to them. According to the Jedi Code love and all attachments lead to the so-called dark side of the force."

"Really? I thought Jedi were all about love and stuff." Vette had asked Vector, but then she faced Theron and added: "Uh, sorry…"

Badesh was confused. Why did Vette apologize to Theron?

Theron smiled weakly. "It's alright. Vector is right – we aren't close. So, should you think about taking me hostage you will be disappointed. Grand Master Shan won't negotiate on my behalf."

"Really?" asked Nine, her hand lay casually on her blaster.

"Theron and I got kicked out of the SIS because somebody planted false evidence against us. Do you honestly think that would have happened if the Head of the Jedi Order had stood behind us?" hissed Kalda. "If that woman couldn't do that much…"

"I you would excuse me," said Theron suddenly and stood up, "I am not feeling well – probably a little reminder of the famous Organa hospitality."

Theron strode out of the mess hall, Quinn followed him while the rest of them fell silent. Badesh finished his meal, thinking about Theron. At first he simply mused about what he had heard, but soon pictures of a half-naked Theron inserted themselves in his thoughts. A little Jedi, so pure… Badesh rose to his feet and walked briskly to the Medbay.

ooOOoo

As expected he found Theron lying on the bedside while Quinn was rummaging in the cupboards. Badesh lingered in the doorway and watched how Quinn gave Theron a few pills and a glass of water. Then he checked Theron's bandages. Seeing Quinn palming Theron's naked, muscular chest almost took away Badesh's breath. And for an ever so short moment he pictured both men naked, but then he pulled himself together.

"Quinn, would you excuse us? I would like to ask Agent… Shan a few additional questions. And please see to it that we aren't disturbed."

"My Lord," Quinn denoted a bow and left the Medbay. Badesh followed his every movement until the door slid close behind him.

"So, fire away – or do you only want to rub in that hadn't the stomach to discuss my relationship with my mother in front of five Imperials?" Theron sounded surprisingly bitter.

Badesh realised that he had no idea what he should reply. So he remained silent and simply stood there.

"Fine, mind if I ask a question?"

"No."

"Do Sith believe in love?"

Badesh was taken aback. "We believe in passion. Love is a weakness."

"Oh the irony, both Sith and Jedi think that love is a weakness… But you don't believe that, do you? The way you bent down to Quinn and caressed him… and then you hugged and carried Vette with a softness I never thought possible from the likes of you. You love them. You stormed a fucking Organa fortress and killed at least three dozen people to save them."

"53 people and 36 droids to be exact," said Badesh quietly. "And the three people in the basement."

"I saw what you did to them, you and your companions are probably to most fucked-up group I have ever seen, and that means something coming from me. And yet… I envy you."

"You seemed… disappointed to see me in the basement. Why?" Badesh had an idea, but he wanted to hear it from Theron, he didn't know why. Perhaps because his pain was so… sweet?

"I guess it was quite the realisation – the holy Grand Master, the brightest and wisest Jedi of her time didn't feel my distress or decided that I wasn't important enough to warrant rescuing. But right next to me two Imps managed to contact their evil, depraved Sith Lord through the force even though they aren't even force-sensitive or blood-related to him. And said Sith cared enough to show up and kick the shit out of the thugs who had tortured his friends."

Badesh shifted from one leg to another. "You give me too much credit. I am a sadist – I killed the soldiers because it pleased me."

"I didn't dispute that you are a sadist – I just called you 'depraved' didn't I? But that doesn't change the fact that you dropped whatever you were doing and came to Vette's and Quinn's rescue. And that was so unbearable for me – I couldn't sit there listening to Nina who seriously considered to ransom me back to my mother who not only doesn't care but also sends dishonest gifts like that fucking mug! 'For my beloved son'! The gall of that woman!" Theron was now visibly upset, he wiped his face with his right hand and took a deep breath.

Seeing Theron getting worked up aroused Badesh extremely. With two huge steps he crossed the distance between him and Theron, took his face in his hands and kissed him passionately. Theron froze under his caress. When Badesh broke the kiss he saw that Theron had a shocked expression on his face.

"My little Jedi… your anger is so very sweet," Badesh whispered. "Let me taste it."

Badesh let his left hand slide into Theron's pants. Then he kissed him again, rougher than before. Theron moaned under his touch and kissed back.


	18. Dreams

Quinn returned to the mess hall and told everybody that Darth Tenebra wished to question Theron alone and didn't wanted to be disturbed. Vector and Nine announced that they had to write their reports and disappeared into the conference room.

Vette had just finished her broth as Quinn replicated a noodle soup and sat next to her. Kalda stared on her soup with a worried look on her face.

"Perhaps I should look after Theron?"

"Darth Tenebra was very clear with his instructions," replied Quinn coolly. "And I doubt that Agent Heian is in danger."

"Yeah," concurred Vette, "Badesh was quite friendly before, wasn't he? For a bloodthirsty Sith I mean."

Kalda sighted. "You are right… but the last days have been really crazy. And now you even know about Theron. And it disturbs me that I actually believe you if you tell me that the Dark Council member we just ate supper with isn't going to eat the son of the Jedi Grand Master alive."

"Yeah, he wouldn't – after all he just ate a nutritious stew," said Vette and beamed at Kalda.

"So, care to tell me what you real rank is?" asked Kalda hesitantly.

"Sure! I am Grand Moff Killthemall and this is Admiral Malcontent!" Vette did a mock salute.

Quinn kept his upper stiff lip. "Indeed… Vette tells the truth."

Kalda had a harrowed look on her face. "Please, no jokes. I… can't take it right now."

Vette immediately felt a bang of guilt. At the same time she didn't understand Kalda's objection. "Hey, what's the matter? Everything is going to be right – Badesh said that he could track Revan through the force… and we all got away from that horrible cellar."

"Yes, and that is my problem – I know that it is screwed up, but I start to like you. Even him," said Kalda in a low voice and pointed at Quinn. "You are all so damn likable despite being Imps and that drives me crazy!"

"I object against…" begun Quinn, but Vette just shot him a glare and he fell silent.

"But why? You already knew that the galaxy isn't black and white – we have been over that."

"Of course I know that! I wasn't a naïve little girl when I joined the SIS and I knew damn well that some things I have done to screw over the Empire or rather people who were with the Empire were morally dubious to say the least. I did what I did! But it is much easier when you don't see your opponents as sentient beings with a story or a soul! And now I would go so far as even saying that your Sith has a heart."

"Well… you are right about that – he keeps it on display on his desk in a transparent casing," Vette said slowly and upon Kalda's grim look she quickly spoke on. "But I get what you are saying… There are some things I'm not particularly proud of, but who isn't? We simply do what we think we have to do."

"I think Agent Biss is referring to her patriotism. If you believe in something greater than you it always involves a leap of faith to overlook certain shortcomings of the system if you still believe that it is for the greater good. But you have doubts, haven't you?" Quinn asked pointedly.

Vette almost fell from her chair. Quinn's train of thought unveiled that he had doubts himself – or why was he able to interpret Kalda's words in this way?

"No, I still firmly believe that a democratic system is the only way to ensure that everybody has the same chances in life. But I question my judgement and my ability to carry on working for the SIS. In my experience there are only two types of people suited for this work: fanatics and mercenaries."

Vette took a sip of coffee. It was already cold, but she drank it anyway. "Kalda… I don't mean to be unfeeling, but could you even return to the SIS? They have discharged you and Theron because they think that you were turned. Even when we defeat the Revanites, the charges will still stand."

Kalda stared again at her soup, she had barely touched it. She absent-mindedly stirred her food with the spoon. "I know, it's just… a few days ago I was absolutely fine with the prospect of dying for the Republic – even if nobody ever knew what we had done to protect it. And now I'm thoroughly compromised. By the stars! Look at me, here I sit and whine about my life to _you_! A bunch of fucking Imperials!"

"Awww, but we are _your_ fucking Imperials, aren't we?" Vette jokingly answered, then she continued in a serious voice. "Listen, Kalda, I know it sucks – I have been there and sometimes I still am. But let me impart my wisdom on you: let your gut guide you. The galaxy is a fucked-up place and there is just one thing to consider, what is right and what is wrong in your opinion. Everything else is too arbitrary to consider."

They fell silent for a moment and Vette got up and replicated three mugs of coffee and brought them to the table.

After Quinn had thanked Vette he cleared his throat. "Your philosophy is too chaotic for my taste, Vette. There has to be a set of rules to follow, a guideline so to speak."

Kalda groaned. "Stop saying things I can agree to, Major! And you Vette – stop being so nice!"

"Would it be better if Quinn was the nice one and I would say reasonable things?" asked Vette and beamed at Kalda.

"I object," said Quinn dryly. Then he glanced at his chronometer, stood up and pulled chess board from a drawer.

"Is it ten o'clock already?" asked Vette.

"It is," replied Quinn and they started to put up the chess pieces.

Kalda just sat there and watched them playing the first few moves. "It this some kind of tradition?"

"Jep, we started it about a year ago. Quinn usually wins, but I had my glorious victories too," answered Vette and moved a pawn. "Badesh also tried it once but he was terrible at it, too aggressive you know, and he got angry as I beat him. He is a sore loser."

ooOOoo

Kalda watched as they played their usual game of chess. Vette wasn't in the mood to play seriously, so she bantered with Quinn instead of focussing on the game. She enjoyed his indignant glances when she made her puns, and registered that Kalda relaxed a little bit, she even occasionally smiled at Vette's jokes.

After about half an hour Vette started to yawn, even with two additional cups of coffee she barely could keep her eyes open. Quinn had just declared checkmate and could barely suppress a yawn. Kalda followed suit.

"Our efficiency is affected," Quinn remarked and suppressed another yawn. "We should get some rest before the briefing."

Vette found the prospect of sleep very appealing. It had been over 24 hours since she had a decent rest, not counting the brief moments in which she was unconscious.

In this moment Badesh stepped into the mess hall and Quinn immediately snapped into parade rest.

"Vette, Quinn – we should start with the briefing," he said calmly.

"Of course my Lord, I will prepare adrenals right away," replied Quinn and Vette suppressed another yawn.

"Adrenals?" asked Badesh visibly confused.

"Yes, our performance would suffer because of our weariness." Quinn was already on his way half-way out of the door when Badesh called him back.

"Malavai, wait… that won't be necessary. We will postpone our briefing until tomorrow. I will use the remainder of the night to trace Revan's force signature."

"As you wish, my Lord."

Vette was relieved, of course she would've functioned with adrenals, but she welcome the down-time. "Thanks, boss!"

Badesh eyed Kalda. "You will stay on the _Fury_. Agent Heian and you can use our crew quarters."

"Thought as much," mumbled Kalda. Vette was sure that Kalda would have protested if she hadn't been completely beat.

"Come on, Kalda – I will show you where you can bunk." Vette yawned once again.

She shuffled past Badesh and walked down the hallway to the crew quarters. Kalda followed her.

"Ok, as these two beds are taken – but you can choose from these back there," Vette said and gestured towards the four beds in the farthest corner of the room."

Quinn entered the room. "Vette, Nina and Vector have returned to their ship – they will report in at 8 o'clock." He had two packages under his arm, and strode to Kalda to give them to her. "A set of basic clothes, Agent Biss – in case you or Agent Heian need them."

"Thanks," said Kalda visibly uncomfortable.

Vette smiled at her. "Hey, tomorrow everything will look brighter. A good night's sleep can do wonders!" She knew that her optimism was a little over the top, but Vette felt the need to say something uprising to Kalda.

In this moment Theron appeared in the doorframe. Vette registered that he looked somewhat dishevelled. She beamed at him, but to her surprise he avoided her gaze. Quietly he joined Kalda in the back of the room.

Vette sat down and pulled her boots from her feet. "Have you seen the cargo bay? Badesh did quite a number on the training dummy."

"Indeed? Tovee should have cleaned up." Quinn started to unbutton his jacket.

"Somehow I think that Tovee has been busy cleaning up the rest of the ship. Have you smelled the fresh paint in the conference room? Badesh must have gone on a rampage." Vette pulled her shirt and her bra off and threw them in the fresher next to the door.

Of course Quinn had neatly folded his clothes before he put them into the fresher. Vette smiled at this very Quinn-ish habit. Suddenly she realised how quiet Theron and Kalda were. Perhaps she should involve them in the conversation? There has been something that she had wanted to ask Theron anyway.

"Hey Theron – what does it feel like being… you know being force-sensitive?" She turned to the SIS-Agents and realised that they had turned their backs towards Quinn and herself. "What's the matter?"

Vette exchanged a quick gaze with Quinn. They were acting suspicious, what could they possibly be hiding?

"Agent Heian?" asked Quinn with a frown. He had just removed his pants and cautiously took a step toward the shelf his blaster was lying on.

Theron glanced over his shoulder and averted his gaze again. "It's hard to describe. I felt connected with everything, but it was also strange… to feel all these emotions. Long story short – it is confusing."

Suddenly something in Vette's mind clicked. Theron and Kalda weren't hiding anything – they were simply embarrassed by Quinn's and her nudity!

"Oh come on! How old are you?" Vette exclaimed. "Your eyes won't start to bleed just because you see some Twi'lek tits!"

"I can confirm that," said Quinn with his usual stuck-up intonation and put on his pyjama pants.

"Of course not!" answered Kalda. "It just seems indecent to watch."

"Whatever… so, back to the topic: Why do you supress your force-sensitivity? It could be really handy on some missions." Vette slid into her pyjama.

Theron turned slowly. "It doesn't work that way. It is more like an instinct or empathy; without proper training it's useless. It only makes my presence known to trained force-users."

"So, no cool force-tricks?" inquired Vette and started to brush her teeth.

"Most Jedi train for more than ten years before they can even lift a stone. I wasn't that patient," retorted Theron and smiled a little.

"When I was a child, back when I was a slave I always hoped that every old geezer in a robe that crossed my path was some old Jedi Sage who would discover that I was destined to become a great Jedi and would bring me somewhere nice," said Kalda and sat down on her bed.

Vette spit the toothpaste into the little sink next to her bed. "Funny, I never thought about that – as a child I thought that only humans could be Jedi. Until the _Brentaal Star_ I didn't even know that there were Twi'lek Jedi." Vette fleetingly though about Yadira Ban but pushed the mental image of her beheaded body away as soon as it resurfaced.

Vette remembered something else that was unpleasant: As a child she hadn't fantasised about becoming a Jedi but becoming a human. She had hated her lekkus and had pictured how much prettier she would have been if she weren't a 'tail-head'. After she had joined Taunt's gang she had developed pride in being a Twi'lek – but it was very fragile:

About a month ago she had dreamed that she lived with Quinn in a house on Tatooine. They were doing some strange work with commstations, Vette couldn't remember anymore what it was about; but the thing that haunted her since that night was that in their dream-house there was a nursery. She had walked into the nursery to check upon their child… and in the crib lay a pink-skinned human baby with brown hair. Vette had woken up, her heart pounding against her rip cage, feeling nauseous.


	19. Reminiscence

The _Fury_ was very quiet in the night. Usually there was the humming of the engines, but since it wasn't flying even that noise was missing. It was perfect for meditation, but Badesh simply couldn't focus. He sat cross-legged on his bed and tried in vain to concentrate. His thoughts wandered back to his first sexual encounter. He had liked it, very much so; and apparently Theron had liked it too… He tried to understand what had caused him to finally act on his desires. As a Sith he thrived on passion and emotions but there had always been a certain reservation about physical contact that didn't involve slicing one's head off.

There had been a time in which he had thought a great deal about his inability to get intimate, but it had passed – it didn't matter what fuelled him in his quest for power. Badesh hadn't had the luxury to muse about his inner workings; everything had been a question of survival; simple as that. Despite his best efforts not to analyse himself he realised at the Sith academy that he was a disturbed individual, even by Sith standards.

At the end of his training on Korriban he had resigned; life was too short to question oneself – perhaps he wasn't meant to understand himself. But then Darth Baras had given him a Twi'lek slave for his own amusement. Baras' leery comments had left no doubt what his master thought he would do with Vette, but Badesh had found greater pleasure in bullying and hurting her. He hadn't understood all the fuss about sex, it simply didn't appeal to him. At least not with her – not then … But pain… that was something different.

But one day he realised that he was missing something, in lack of better words he had called it warmth. Vette had been warm and he had been cold. She had reminded him that he had lost something, but he simply couldn't remember what. Badesh had tried to understand why he was missing this so-called warmth at all – he was a powerful Sith. Why was he so hung up over something so trivial?

When he met Quinn on Balmorra he had at first felt the immediate impulse to bite the man. He couldn't explain his urge and supressed it. Over the time Badesh realised that he was drawn to Quinn, it wasn't lust… it was something more. Every time he looked into Quinn's azure blue eyes they gave him the same guilty feeling of not being enough.

It was strange; Badesh had never cared about anyone nor their opinion of him, but this was different: He struggled against it and even tried to dress down Quinn on several occasions, but he simply couldn't succeed. When Quinn had offered his services to him Badesh had been delighted at first; there was no doubt in his mind that he would taste Quinn's… flesh someday. But then he felt Baras' smugness through the force as soon as he lay his eyes on Quinn; Badesh had recalled that Baras himself had said that Quinn owed his career to him… there were no coincidences. His cunning master had planted a mole in his crew.

Badesh was even more confused when he discovered that he was reluctant to kill Quinn. He had witnessed the way Quinn acted around Vette; he hadn't been kind a first – but slowly Quinn had eased into his new position and not only helped him with his expertise but also showed him how to act around Vette. Quinn showed him how to relate so someone, he also reminded him that there were things greater than himself: the Empire had lasted long before him and would continue to exist long after he was gone. Quinn had understood that long before him and Badesh admired him for that.

He tried to enjoy the company of Quinn as long it was possible, the treason would come sooner or later – that much he knew.

But his beliefs in this regard were disabused when Vette proved her loyalty on Tatooine by turning on the Jedi. She had so much power and didn't even realise it; not only did she convince him to release her from the shock collar, she also had swayed Quinn, who was at least as xenophobic as Badesh himself, to suggest to him to free her from slavery.

It was about that time that Badesh had started to reach out through the force to feel the force signatures of his companions. He felt … warm when he touched their minds … and their bodies. Vette's influence was even so strong that she caused Quinn to confess this true allegiance to Baras to him, she hadn't been directly involved but Badesh was certain that her example of loyalty had changed Quinn's attitude.

Together they had grown into something… more.

Badesh's affection for Vette and Quinn had grown with it and yet he couldn't bring himself to act on his feelings. Since he had met Theron Badesh had felt a certain desire in his lower parts; he had known arousal before – but never so strongly.

And now he couldn't suppress it anymore; his thoughts wandered to Theron… and Quinn. Badesh wanted to kiss, to touch him, he even wanted to kiss Vette… but what if… no, he wouldn't risk it. Vette and Quinn were together, and Badesh was… no, it had to be enough to be with them.

ooOOoo

Despite his inability to meditate Badesh still held tabs on the force signatures on the ship. When one of them moved he got up and left his quarters. Kalda was walking towards the air-lock, he quietly went in the direction of her force signature. He felt clearly how she stopped right in front of the exit of the _Fury_. Badesh stopped too and waited. He was curious whether she would try to flee; it would be a surprise – he didn't think that she would leave Theron behind.

Finally Kalda moved on and entered the mess hall. Badesh heard how she replicated something and decided to have a look. When he entered Badesh smelled the familiar scent of green tea – tarisian green tea if he was not mistaken. Kalda stood in front of the replicator and stared at the mug with tea, then she buried her face in her hands, took a deep breath and finally took the mug. When she saw him she flinched and almost spilled the tea.

"Damn!" She shot an angry look at him. "You don't need to scare me like that – your little show today made very clear that there is no escaping you."

"But it was tempting, wasn't it?" inquired Badesh. "Just walking out of the door and leaving everything behind you."

"Why do you even ask? Do you really need to hear that I'm scared of the evil Sith and the prospect of getting killed?" she retorted. Kalda looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. "Or is this the overture for an interrogation?"

Badesh realised that he didn't know why he had asked in the first place. Probably Kalda was right, he just wanted to ascertain that she indeed was afraid of him. It didn't matter, but this could be a good opportunity to get his mind off… other things.

"Have you ever been on your species' homeplanet?" Badesh went to the replicator and scrolled through the tea selection.

Kalda narrowed her eyes. "Shili? No, and it's not _my_ homeplanet – I was born on Kaon."

"Ah, on Kaon they separate the slaves from their families… that explains why the SIS approached you." Badesh put a mug in the replicator and let Turu-grass tea pour into it.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Intelligence agencies tend to recruit people without ties."

"I'm honoured that the Head of Imperial and Sith Intelligence tries to analyse my motivations to join the SIS," said Kalda coldly.

"Nobody and nothing is insignificant before…" began Badesh, but in the middle of the sentence he felt the disturbance in the force he had been looking for. For the briefest moment Badesh connected with it and its resonance flowed through him. A vision came to him: ice plains, a dark sky with bright stars and a colourful crystal palace made in a… cave? It was over as quickly as it had come, Badesh felt like waking up from a dream.

Kalda stared at him. "What was that?"

"A vision – I think I know where we have to go next… Illum," replied Badesh.

Kalda took a sip of her tea. "I don't know anything about the force – but if this were some lead in a normal operation that pops up so conveniently I would suspect a trap. I mean, what are the odds? We just finished on Alderaan and only a few hours later the next location falls in our lap."

Badesh was completely taken aback. She was right! The thought would never have crossed his mind, but it really was very, very convenient. And yet… there were no coincidences with the force…

"You… might be right…" he said hesitantly. "We have to proceed with caution. Before tonight I never received such a clear vision. If it is a trap, then our opponent is far more potent than I thought – their mastery of the force must be astounding." Badesh mused about it and decided that he had to confer with Vette and Quinn on how to proceed.

"You meant that they could be even stronger in the force than you?" Kalda asked with a frown.

"It's a possibility. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't beat them in a fight – I have yet to meet a challenge I couldn't conquer." Badesh remembered his glorious battle with Darth Jadus and wished that he could look at his trophy.

In the briefing in the next morning Badesh informed his companions about his nightly vision and Kaldas suspicion.

"Agent Biss' analysis is sound," said Quinn and nodded in the direction of Kalda. Badesh wasn't surprised. Kalda and Quinn were indeed very similar in some ways. "If it is a trap, then we need massive back-up – the Revanites have been building a fleet and might also have an army."

"Yeah, but who can we trust?" Vette leaned back in her chair. "The more back-up we bring the greater is the possibility that there is a revanite spy."

Badesh had already thought about it. "We should bring in Kilran and Nox. Objections?"

"Darth Nox is very unstable from what I hear. Is there no other Sith we could ask?" said Nine with a firm voice.

Badesh clasped his hands behind his back. "He is not unstable, he merely relishes in his power and uses it whenever he pleases. But he will comply and most importantly: I simply don't think that he is a Revanite."

"Why?" asked Nine.

"Because Nox is not in the least interested in order or balance."

"That is true…" Vette frowned. "But he could kill us should the mood strike him."

"He will not," replied Badesh calmly. "Or I will kill him."

"Darth Tenebra… You also mentioned Grand Moff Kilran – but in his nest is bound to be at least one Revanite." Vector looked straight at Badesh. His fascinating black pupil-less eyes made it impossible for Badesh to avert his gaze.

"I don't think that that should be a problem," interjected Theron. "As far as I know he is quite cunning – I would assume that he could think of something to get his fleet in position without raising any suspicion."

"He will. And again the bottom line is this: I trust him not to be a Revanite. Any further objections?"

Nobody spoke.

"Then it's decided."

Badesh walked straight to the holocommstation and called his fellow Dark Council colleague. Nox's bluish figure appeared over the holostation and the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. Badesh didn't suffer directly from the Dread Force, but he still felt the dark power that surrounded the current Dread Master.

"Darth Tenebra… Greetings." Nox wore a dark robe with golden embroideries and a golden mask; his high voice was strangely distorted by it.

"Darth Nox, I am currently on a very important mission for the welfare of the Empire and I am in need of your unique abilities." Badesh respected Nox, he had seen first-hand what he could do with his powers.

"I see. Very well, I look forward to wreak havoc with you… it has been too long."

Badesh was taken aback. "You honour me… but don't you want to hear more details about the mission first?"

"There is no need – if a Sith of your stature thinks that you need my… humble skills, then you shall have them." Nox' voice indicated that he was pleased. Badesh could empathise – the prospect of blood was alluring after all.

"Meet us on Illum in two days – it will be glorious."

"May the force ever be in your favour," replied Nox and denoted a bow. Then his picture vanished.

Badesh didn't waste any time and called Kilran next.

"Darth Tenebra! What a pleasure!" Kilran bowed.

Badesh simply nodded. "I want to express my gratitude for your cooperation, Grand Moff."

"Not at all, my Lord. But am I correct to assume that this isn't a social call?"

Right to business, Badesh liked that trait of Kilran. "Indeed. There is a high possibility that we have found a revanite base on Illum and we need military back-up as quickly as possible. Due to possible spies it is of utmost importance to keep the troop movement a secret as long as possible."

Kilran smiled. "Oh well… that shouldn't be a problem."

"I knew that I could count on you, Grand Moff."

"Everything for the Empire, my Lord."


	20. Glowfly

Vette shuddered as soon as she felt the Dread Force oozing into the conference room. Luckily she was in another room, but even this weak taste of Nox' power reminded her of Kaon and he had killed a little boy because he had been bored.

Theron looked very pale, Vette assumed that his force-sensitivity made him more perceptive to the terror caused by the Dread Force. Theron wiped over his eyes and was visibly shaken up.

"Agent Heian, might I suggest that you increase the output of your implant?" Quinn suddenly said. "If you are affected so strongly now your functionality would suffer as soon as you are confronted with Darth Nox in person."

"I guess it is out of the question to ask the good Darth to turn down his powers?" asked Theron with a forced smile.

Vette knew that Quinn would not answer such an uncouth question and replied in his stead. "He is already holding back…" She knew of course that Nox could suppress his powers anytime, but she thought that this wasn't a detail the former SIS-Agents should know. Nox would anyway enjoy antagonizing them, she and Quinn had suffered in the past…

"He is holding back?" asked Kalda with a frown. "Are you kidding me? I feel like vomiting already."

"The Dark Council is composed of the strongest Sith in the Empire. Every one of them is… extraordinary," said Nine quietly. "I assumed that the SIS already knew that."

"Of course the SIS does! But I am only a lowly black ops grunt – I haven't met more than five force-users in my entire life." Kalda had a haunted look about her, despite the fact that the Dread Force had vanished; Badesh had probably ended the call.

"I on the other hand have seen my share of force-users… but I have to admit, Badesh and…" began Theron.

"Darth Tenebra," interjected Quinn.

"…Darth Tenebra and Darth Nox are on a different level altogether. But I'm curious, Sith usually have apprentices, right? Where is B… Darth Tenebra's apprentice?"

Vette and Quinn exchanged glances. Finally Quinn cleared his throat. "That is classified, Agent Heian."

In this moment Badesh returned, apparently he had heard Theron's question. "No need for modesty, Quinn. If you must know, my apprentice is dead – Vette and Quinn killed her in their line of duty."

Vette was surprised that Badesh disclosed this information. But probably he just wanted to see how Theron and Kalda reacted.

They remained impassive, only Theron's quick glance at Vette and then Quinn betrayed that he was taken aback by this new piece of information.

"We will meet up with Kilran's fleet and Nox in two days – Quinn, coordinate with Kilran and draw up battle tactics. Vette, you will keep an eye on intelligence reports and coordinate with the Minister and Keeper." Badesh turned to Nine and Vector. "Agents, you will fly ahead and do a reconnaissance mission on Illum. I will send you the coordinates of the Revanite base. If you can infiltrate the base without being noticed… even the better. I leave all the operative decisions to you, contact me as soon as possible."

"What about us?" inquired Theron.

"You will stay aboard the _Fury_ and scour through the SIS-channels; perhaps you can identify other Revanites, in case that this operation fails."

"My Lord, might I suggest that Tovee flies the XS freighter to the Imperial Fleet? It shouldn't stay on Alderaan." Quinn stated.

"The _Glowfly_ is our ship… we would prefer to fly it ourselves," objected Theron.

"No."

"You are now in the tender care of the Empire," smirked Nine. "Enjoy it… Or don't you trust us?"

Vette didn't like the way Nine taunted Theron and Kalda. Everybody knew that they weren't free to go, it wasn't necessary to rub it in.

"There is no need for sarcasm, Agent," Quinn said haughtily. Vette smiled at him, she was about to say something herself, but he had beaten her to it – she loved that Quinn tried to avoid humiliating Theron and Kalda.

"Yes sir," replied Nine calmly and stood up. "We will leave immediately – my Lord." She bowed towards Badesh who simply nodded. "Major, Sergeant – see you on Illum." With that she and Vector left.

Badesh clasped his hands behind his back. He had a contemplative expression on his face. Then he looked at Theron and Kalda. "Tovee, Quinn and Vette will accompany you to your ship – take what you need and return as fast as possible."

ooOOoo

On their way to the _Glowfly_ Vette registered that Theron and Kalda were unusually quiet. They probably mused over their fate – the longer they stayed with them the more uncertain everything grew for them. Theron had probably envisioned some kind of short, temporary partnership, but it seemed that they had to work longer together than thought. Especially Kalda seemed to worry about what Badesh would decide to do with them.

"Is it really true that you killed his apprentice?" Kalda suddenly asked. They had almost reached hangar in which the freighter stood.

"Yes," answered Quinn curtly.

"She wanted to kill us and so we had to… shoot her," added Vette.

Theron walked in front of them and glance over his shoulder. "You really killed a force-user – just the two of you?"

"It was a necessity." Quinn stated with an even voice. "But there is no need to pretend that you don't know our SIS files, Agent. Surely you are fully aware of our… deeds."

"Come now, most Intelligence files consist of rumours and second-hand intel," replied Kalda, "we are merely wondering if the rumours are true. And your files only mentioned the casualties caused by your missions with Badesh…"

"Darth Tenebra!" interjected Quinn.

"… with Badesh. So, tell me… how many force-users have you actually killed – I mean just the two of you?"

Vette felt uncomfortable. She averted her gaze. "That is nothing to be proud of."

"Quit bullshitting around!" hissed Kalda.

"I killed three," Quinn coolly replied.

"Me too," said Vette and wiped her temple with her right hand.

Theron and Kalda turned on their heels to face them.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kalda seemed shocked. "Three? _Each_ of you?"

"That is correct," answered Quinn.

"I didn't even know that force users could be killed by normal people!"

"That's what they want you to believe," Theron put his hand on Kalda's shoulder. "They all seem so omnipotent and almost invulnerable. But the truth is that they are mortal like the rest of us." He looked Vette straight in the eye. "But of course it takes great skill to even hurt a force user, it is… a testament to your skill."

Vette didn't like the direction the conversation was going. Under the surface of this talk Theron had alluded that he knew that even a Sith as powerful as Badesh could be killed. He was right of course, Badesh had been hurt in the past – he could get hurt again. Theron and Kalda had seen what Badesh was capable of, they knew exactly how dangerous he was and that he could seriously hurt the Republic; with his individual power and his position in the Empire. Vette liked Theron and Kalda, she respected them and she didn't like the thought that she couldn't trust them. She wanted to trust them, she wanted to be friends with them.

They had reached the _Glowfly_. Theron pulled the hatch open and entered. Vette waited until everybody else was in the ship before she stepped in. She had no choice; trust was good but control was better. Vette felt a lump forming in the throat as she followed Kalda into her room and watched how she packed a few things. Quinn and Theron were in the other room.

"Kalda?"

"Yes?"

"You asked me on Alderaan to do you a favour… could I ask the same of you?" Vette knitted her hands together.

"What?" Kalda put a few shirts into a bag and then sat slowly down on her bed. She frowned at Vette.

"Should you try to capture or kill me… make it quick. I don't want to suffer. I have been in republic custody once and well, frankly they wanted to punish the traitorous Twi'lek. I assume you feel the same; I promise you that I will see to it that you won't end up in an imperial torture chamber – please do the same for me."

"Agreed…" Kalda said hesitantly and stood up again. She packed the rest and after they had met up with Theron and Quinn they left. As soon as they had cleared the hangar Tovee started the engines and flew with the _Glowfly_ into the blue alderaanian sky. Kalda and Theron watched from the observation lounge how their ship was flown into the heart of the enemy fleet. Nobody said a word.

ooOOoo

A few hours later the _Fury_ was on its way to Illum. Vette was standing sitting in the conference room with her feet on the table and scrolled through the newest Intelligence reports. So far nothing had turned up, but that didn't surprise Vette – after all the Revanites had no reason to get alarmed. But that would most probably change after Illum. She went to the commstation and began to write a program to track down movements in the intelligence databanks that weren't consistent with the day-to-day accesses. Usually it would be very difficult to write a useful program with such open parameters, but since it only had to work for the duration of the Illum-operation it might just work.

As she worked on algorithms Vette fleetingly thought to ask Theron for help. He was a far better slicer and programmer than she, but Vette didn't think that it was a particularly good idea to let a former SIS-Agent have a peek at the imperial databanks.

Finally she got the program working and decided to look after Theron and Kalda who were working at the main commstation in the middle of the _Fury_.

"How are things on your end?" Vette asked and beamed at them.

Theron looked up from his data pad. "Slow –we don't have full access to the SIS databanks; they change the codes in regular intervals and…"

"Long story short – nothing has come up." Kalda said calmly.

"Okay…" answered Vette and tried to think of something to say to them. Nothing came to mind. "I, uh, will check on Quinn."

"Wait – I need to talk to your boss…" said Theron hastily.

Something was strange about the way he… blushed? Vette also registered that Kalda frowned as she looked at her colleague. "He is in his quarters – meditating I think."

"Right… I will…" Theron didn't finish the sentence, instead he walked briskly towards Badesh's quarters.

Vette made briefly eye contact with Kalda, she had a worried look about her.

"Are you alright?"

Kalda blinked and crossed her arms. "Yes… I think so… I would like to discuss strategies with Major Quinn. Do you mind if I accompany you to the cockpit?"

"Not at all, come along!" Vette smiled at her.

Quinn was hunched over a small map of Illum, he was tipping something on a data pad as they entered. For a brief moment his lips curled up in a coy smile as he saw Vette. But as soon as he saw that Kalda had followed her he snapped in his usual rigid posture.

"Major, I just wanted to know what plans you have made for Agent Heian and myself. Are we going to be deployed at all?" inquired Kalda.

"Yes, we can't spare any manpower. Darth Nox needs back-up, as far as I know he only has one apprentice – you and Vette will act as his Lieutenants. Grand Moff Kilran and I agree that Darth Nox will lead a small and swiftly moving strike force while Darth Tenebra will lead the bulk of the imperial forces in a frontal attack. Agent Heian and myself will support him."

"Is there a reason for this division?" Kalda frowned.

"Of course there is," replied Quinn haughty. "Agent Heian seems to be far more affected by the Dread Force than you; and Vette also has a higher resistance against Darth Nox' powers than myself."

"I see," Kalda simply answered.

Vette studied the map. She didn't like the outlook of being in a team with Darth Nox, but Quinn was right of course. It made perfectly sense to put her and a fanatical former SIS-agent together in the care of an insane man who got off on driving people mad and letting them plug their own eyes out in terror… it seemed that it was another Wednesday in the service of the Sith Empire.


	21. Depraved

Badesh sat on his bed and was looking at the small toy farmer with dried blood on it. He tried to recall his last battle when he heard that somebody knocked on his door. Quinn and especially Vette would have simply entered, it could only be Theron – Kalda had no reason to visit him.

"Enter," he said in a firm voice.

As suspected it was Theron who stood in the doorway. Badesh turned his gaze away and stared again at the toy figure. Finally Theron cleared his throat and stepped into the room. He the door slid close behind him.

"I… I just wanted to talk about, hm, our actions in the Medbay," he stammered.

Badesh turned his attention once again to Theron. "Yes?"

"It was a mistake and I… well, I just wanted to make clear that it was a one-time thing."

"So, you don't want sex with me anymore?" Badesh blankly asked. He wasn't surprised, he wasn't… he was a very deranged man… No, he wasn't surprised that Theron didn't wish to be touched by him anymore. Theron blushed and to see him squirm like that aroused Badesh. The very thought that he had defiled… pleasured the only child of the Jedi Grand Master added to his excitement.

"Yes… that's right. It was a moment of weakness on my part and I don't intend to repeat it. You are not what I expected and…"

"A pity, but I understand," interjected Badesh. Against his will he felt sorrow.

"It is only a question of time anyway before our ways part anyway… but I envy you I really do. You will always have Vette and Quinn."

Badesh was slightly surprised about Therons statement. How had he guessed that he was saddened? "You are mistaken, I will always have Vette and Quinn – that is true, but not like that. I would never… spoil them."

"You mean… you have never... You didn't sleep with neither of them?" Theron stared at Badesh, he wiped across his face with his right hand.

"No." Why was Theron repeating what he had already stated?

"But you love them! You are a Sith! Why in the galaxy wouldn't you act on your passions?"

Badesh levitated the small toy and let his fly into his palm. Should he answer? It certainly wasn't wise to talk to a republican agent like that, but he felt the urge to say it lout. Perhaps he could better understand why he hadn't acted on his feelings? "Do you know how rare it is to meet somebody has isn't a cynic or hard-boiled to the point that they don't care anymore? Vette cares more than anybody that I have ever met, she even cares about her opponents. Quinn is doing his best to appear to be inhuman and cold, but he also cares more than he likes to admit."

"I guess you're right… they both aren't cold-blooded… but how does that answer my question?"

Badesh stood up and showed Theron the farmer in his palm. "I on the other hand wallow in the terror and pain I'm spreading; even now I like to think about the bloodbath in House Organa. Other Sith might say the same, but they don't mean it. They don't thrive on agony as do I, they only enjoy the power it brings." Badesh returned to his bed and sat cross-legged on it. "I can't act on my passions because I could hurt Quinn and Vette and I… I want to hurt them. I dream often of biting them and licking their blood." Badesh felt how his arousal rose again. "But I… I can't. I want to keep them safe and enjoy their company as long as possible."

Badesh fully expected that Theron would be shocked and disgusted, but to his amazement he saw something different on his face: Sadness and dismay.

"I don't want to presume to know you or your companions well enough… but I think that you made a false conclusion. You said earlier that you don't want to 'spoil' Vette and Quinn, you called yourself even a 'disturbed individual' once. You said that you are afraid to hurt the ones you love… but I have yet to see proof that you actually would hurt a lover. You, uh, were very tender to me and caressed me in ways I would never…" Theron blushed again. "I think you mistake your desire to be close to someone, to be united with your loved ones with actual violence. You didn't hurt me, and I would venture a guess that you would be even more tender with Vette and Quinn."

Badesh was completely thunderstruck. "What?"

"I repeat: I'm nothing but a 'republic worm' – and yet you weren't violent against me. Why should you be different to the one's your respect and admire?"

"I did bite you… I wouldn't call that 'tender'!" Badesh narrowed his eyes. Theron dared to speak in a condescending way because he had shown his weak side! "You don't know me and what I'm capable of!"

Theron remained cool. "You really think that you were rough? But hey, if you feel compelled to threaten me just because I wanted… okay, I don't know what I wanted. You are right of course, it's none of my business."

With these words Theron left. Badesh still sat on his bed and got angry at himself. He shouldn't have talked to Theron! He had made a fool of himself because he had lost his cool! And yet… Against his will Badesh was still fascinated by the idea that Theron actually thought that he could have an intimate relationship with his friends. He let himself fall backwards on the bed and stared at the ceiling. What if Theron was right?

In this moment the door slid open and Quinn entered, Badesh quickly straightened up. Quinn held a data pad in his hand and put a small holocomm-device on Badesh's desk.

"My Lord, Grand Moff Kilran and I have settled on a strategy. May I show you how we recommend to proceed?"

Badesh was still musing about Theron's suggestions and slowly nodded without averting his gaze from Quinn. Quinn activated the holo-device. He looked tired and at the same energized as he laid out the ground plans of the Illum operation. Badesh was listening to Quinn's explanations and let his gaze wander over the other man's figure. Every movement, the way he carried himself was very familiar to Badesh. He felt completely calm.

"Excellent; I trust in your judgement, Malavai. We will enact your plan."

"It wasn't my plan alone – Grand Moff Kilran…" he replied stiffly.

"Maybe, I don't care who came up with it. But if you think it is the best strategy it most certainly is," Badesh retorted. He felt a slight prickle and felt heat crawl up his cheeks as he continued to stare at Quinn.

"You honour me, my Lord," the faintest smile was visible on Quinn's lips.

Badesh suddenly felt nervous; he rose to his feet and looked out of the window. They were on the hyper lane and the _Fury_ passed the stars so fast that they were but a blur.

"You may call me Badesh when we are alone," he said quietly and turned to face Quinn.

"I respect you too much for such an informal address, my Lord." Quinn shifted from one leg to another.

"Do you think that I call you by your first name out of disrespect?" inquired Badesh. He wasn't annoyed about Quinn's reluctance to employ a more familiar address, but he felt the need to clarify that he… respected him too.

"No, of course not. But you are an esteemed member of the Dark Council while I am nothing than a humble servant to your cause. It is your prerogative to call me by my first name." Quinn replied in his slightly arrogant intonation.

Badesh lost heart. "I see…"

"However… if you think that I have earned the honour to call you by your given name I would comply," Quinn added somewhat halting.

A hot, slowly growing feeling in his chest surprised Badesh. He felt… happy and at the same time he was a little overtaxed – the silence between felt heavy but Badesh couldn't come up with anything to say. What would Vette do? Make a joke of course… but everything he thought off seemed inappropriate.

"Will that be all?" asked Quinn.

"… yes, thank you," Badesh lamely replied.

Quinn denoted a bow and turned on his heel and left.

ooOOoo

Dinner was as always: Vette bantered and tried to get Quinn to respond to her puns. Badesh was content, he rarely participated in a conversation, but he enjoyed to listen to Vette.

"… but little did I know that Capt'n Crazy here would object against a little pet gizka!" Vette nudged Quinn and beamed at Theron.

"How dare you," quipped Quinn dryly, "I'm a Major."

"Uh, sassy!" laughed Vette. "You finally found the imperial navy's manual for back-talk, didn't you?"

Quinn lifted his hands in the air to show his defeat. "I'm not too proud to acknowledge when I'm outsassed."

Theron smiled. "You two should get your own show on the holonet."

"Good to know that we could always fall back to the entertainment industry should our gig with the Empire end," replied Vette.

Badesh didn't find the last comment amusing. It reminded him too much on how little Vette cared about imperial values. But he was immediately soothed when she turned to him and chirped: "No worries, boss – we would take you with us; you hardly say anything but then it's always a zinger!"

"Yeah, I can attest to that," added Theron.

Badesh didn't miss Vette's perplexed expression. And Theron blushed on top of it.

"You can?" asked Vette with a smirk.

Badesh was curious what Theron would answer. It satisfied him to see him shifting uncomfortable in his seat.

"Well, yeah – back on the _Glowfly_ he was the life of the party!"

Sweet anger began to emanate from Kalda. She probably recalled how he had bullied her to call her 'my Lord'. Badesh liked the direction the conversation was going. But to his dismay Kalda didn't say anything, she simply stood up, put her plate into the refresher and left the mess hall.

Badesh waited for a few moments and followed her. He was curious how she would vent her frustration and anger. Perhaps she would use the cargo bay for exercise?

He felt that she was in the crew quarter and silently approached and was looking forward for a heated argument over imperial and republic values. Badesh was confident that he could rile her up even more.

Kalda sat on the floor and was leaning against the wall. She held a small holopicture in her hands. It showed an underage Togruta. Kalda reached out as if she wanted to caress the small bluish figure, put she simply put her hand over the projector and let the Togruta disappear. Then she lifted her hand again and the child reappeared.

"Is this child your sibling?"

Kalda jerked her head upwards and narrowed her eyes. "I should have known that you couldn't resist my misery."

"Or is it you own child?" Badesh stepped into the room.

"Do you really think that I'm going to answer your questions?" she retorted.

"No, it doesn't matter anyway. Whoever this child is, he or she motivates you to keep doing the Republic's dirty work."

"Yeah right… the simple alien woman has but one reason to fight against the Empire – a helpless child. Has it ever dawned to you that my motivations could be based on ideology?"

Badesh was intrigued by her response. She defied his expectations almost every single time they spoke. "You misunderstood me, I wasn't degrading you by tying your motivations to emotions; as a Sith I know that feelings are much more powerful than any intellectual explanation. Through passion one gains strength."

"So, you are telling me that your comment earlier was some kind of back-handed compliment?" Kalda put the holopicture back in her bag. "The scary Sith lowers himself to relate to the SIS-agent? Gee thanks! Now I have seen everything."

Badesh was confused. He hadn't complimented her! He had merely commented on her behaviour. "No, that's not…"

Kalda walked right in front of him and put her hand on her hip. "I think your sarcasm-detector is broken… my Lord." Then she walked out of the crew quarters, leaving Badesh puzzled in her wake.

After a few moments he realised that she hadn't answered his initial question who the child was.


	22. Dread

When the _Fury_ dropped out of the hyper-lane into the orbit of Illum it was immediately hailed by another interceptor-class spaceship. Quinn put the caller through and a Kaleesh in robes appeared on the holocomm. Vette assumed that he was Nox' apprentice.

"Greetings, I'm Xalek. Darth Nox is ready to board your ship. Meet us at the coordinates you just received." With that he ended the call. Quinn didn't even have the chance to bow. Vette exchanged glances with him.

"Well, that was a very efficient communication. Quinn, you should approve."

"Indeed," he replied curtly. "I will prepare everything for Darth Nox' arrival. Please notify our Lord."

"Aye!" Vette exclaimed and rushed into Badesh's quarters.

He already wore his battle armour and was meditating. Badesh opened his eyes slowly as Vette entered.

"Darth Nox will join us any moment, boss."

"Did you hear from Kilran?"

"Yes, Quinn is about to activate the hyper-lane beacon – it should enable Kilran's fleet to jump right into position so that they can open fire. You just have to give the word and they will be here in a matter of seconds." Vette tried to sound casually, but the prospect of getting into a huge battle made her uneasy to say the least.

Badesh put on his mask and put his hand on her shoulder. "It will be glorious," he simply said and strode out of the door.

Vette assumed that what Badesh really meant to say was: Don't worry, we will be alright. She went to the crew quarters and saw that Theron and Kalda were checking the cold-weather equipment Quinn had handed out. They looked tense.

"Nox boards the _Fury_ soon," she said in a serious tone. "Remember to show him every honour he thinks he is due even when it is nauseating."

"Strange how suddenly Badesh seems to be a reasonable Sith," retorted Theron dryly.

Vette smiled and returned to Quinn in the cockpit. Just as she sat down on the co-pilot seat the other interceptor-class ship came into sight. Quinn initiated the docking sequence and with a dull noise the two ships interlocked at the airlocks. He straightened his jacket as he rose from his seat and walked briskly towards the airlock in the starboard section of the _Fury_. Vette followed him and watched as he swiftly disengaged the locks.

As soon as the hatch opened the atmosphere changed. Vette felt how terror started to creep into her thoughts, every warmth suddenly seemed to evaporated. She pulled herself together and bowed as Darth Nox stepped aboard.

"Darth Nox… greetings." Vette saw from the corner of her eye that Badesh stood in the hallway. Seeing him calmed her; Nox was a crazy sadist and… well Badesh too, but he would protect her and Quinn from being driven mad.

"Darth Tenebra," Nox replied in his slightly high voice that was additionally distorted by his golden mask. To Vette's surprise he turned to her and Quinn. "Major… Sergeant… This is my apprentice."

Xalek had followed Nox and was now bowing. Vette had no doubt that this gesture was meant only for her boss.

Badesh led them into the conference room. Theron and Kalda stood next to the entrance and bowed. Vette knew that it was abhorrent to Kalda especially but to her credit her face remained neutral. Theron on the other hand looked sick.

"Ah… the republican agents… how delicious," whispered Nox and drew nearer to them. He simply flicked his hand and both went down on their knees panting heavily. Kalda was positively terrified, but she still had a determined look on her face. Theron on the other hand had his face buried in his hands groaning. Vette remembered too well how she and Quinn had suffered from Nox' hand and shot a pleading look at Badesh.

"Darth Nox… we may still need them," said Badesh calmly.

"Of course," Nox replied nonchalantly and turned on his heel to face him.

Judging from the relieved look on their faces Vette assumed that Nox didn't use his Dread Force on Theron and Kalda anymore.

She stepped to Theron and together with Quinn she helped him to get on his feet. Kalda was able to get up on her own.

"Kilran will be here as soon as we call him," begun Badesh and activated the holodevice to display a map of Illum. "You will be leading a small attack force from the east – I will lead a head-on attack from the south. Major Quinn and Agent Heian will accompany me. Sergeant Ce'na and Agent Biss will support you – may I inquire where you wish to deploy your apprentice?"

"Since you are leading a frontal attack it seems wise to let him accompany you, Darth Tenebra. But pray tell, which of them," he pointed at Kalda and Theron, "is Biss?"

"The Togruta."

"How interesting…"

Vette didn't like the sound of it. She glanced at Kalda, she looked Nox straight in the face. Vette felt that she had to interrupt the tension that begun to build up.

"My Lord, we have determined that the greatest source of danger for you are enemy snipers. As soon as the Revanites recognize that you are the biggest treat they will try to ambush you," she boldly said and stepped in front of Nox. He was approximately the same height as she was. Vette was a little surprised to realise that – he seemed so much taller only moments ago. "Major Quinn and I have devised a diversion: Six imperial soldiers will wear robes and masks to impersonate Sith. This should confuse the opponent."

Nox chuckled quietly. "Oh, a game of hide and seek; how novel! Shall I dress up as imperial soldier?"

Vette was taken aback at the amount of enthusiasm that he showed. "My Lord?" It wasn't safe to take his question seriously; in case he was joking he could get angry if she simply said 'yes'.

Luckily Quinn stepped in. "My Lord, we have considered this option but perhaps it isn't befitting a member of the Dark Council to discard his robes and his mask?"

"What are you talking about, Major? Imagine the fun we will have!" He laughed. "I will let them eat their own limbs and they will never suspect that it is some lowly imperial soldiers who is responsible!"

Hearing Nox laugh creeped Vette even more out than being subjugated to his Dread Force. It was a shrill, cold laugh that cause her to get goose bumps.

"Quinn, please see to it that Darth Nox gets a uniform. We will all transfer down on the planet; as soon as we are in position we will signal to Kilran to jump at our coordinates." Badesh's voice trembled with excitement.

"Yes my Lord."

ooOOoo

The wind wasn't as cold as on Hoth, but it was still biting enough to let her shudder as she cowered behind a snow pile. She looked through her binoculars and checked on the enemy defences. It was a rather lager fortress build into an ice cave. Next to her kneeled Kalda; Nox paced back and forth. He had turned down his powers lest they would be detected.

"I count 12 guards; they don't seem alerted." She put the binoculars away and turned to Nox. "My Lord, I think we are ready."

Nox didn't stop his pacing. "Magnificent! Signal Darth Tenebra, Sergeant."

Vette activated the microphone that was built into her headset. "Team Blue in position."

"Roger; Team Red in position. Commence operation now," replied Badesh.

Vette looked up to the dark-blue night-sky and saw how several star destroyer and dreadnaught appeared and began to deploy troop transports. At the same time a heavy bombardment begun. Red lasershots literally rained from the sky. They didn't reach the fortress however, a barely visible force field was in place.

After a few minutes two troop transporters landed near Vette's position. At the same time she heard over the headset how Quinn stated: "As expected, the shields are too strong. Commence Phase two."

"Bombardment ceases in 120 seconds," Kilran's voice sounded surprisingly clear despite the ongoing battle.

Imperial troops rushed out of the transporters and saluted before Vette. She returned the salute, it was perhaps the first time she was serious about it, and yelled: "Decoys to me! The rest of you take your positions!"

Six 'Sith' came forward, one of them handed Darth Nox a spare uniform. "Sir, might I suggest that you change in the transporter?"

"There is no need, 'my Lord'," he giggled, "I can withstand a little bad weather."

With these words he begun to undress himself; Vette stood next to him – she had only once seen him without his mask and she was indeed curious if he had changed since then. The dark side was after all strong in him. Kalda was checking her blaster rifle; but Vette didn't miss how she also glanced in the direction of Nox. As soon as Nox removed his mask his leaning to the dark side became visible. He was a Mirialan, but his once green skin was now almost yellow and his traditional black tattoos were pale compared to the dark veins visible on his face. He hadn't changed since Vette saw him; perhaps he had a few cybernetics more…

"90 seconds," Kilran sounded more focused that she had ever heard him.

"This is Cipher Nine – Vector and I are in position inside the base. Sending a blue-print now. Revan is in the 3rd floor; his room is marked."

"Received," answered Quinn.

"60 seconds."

Vette checked her blasters and went through the plan once again. Her thoughts were interrupted by Nox' voice: "If you want to keep your eyes, I suggest that you stop staring at me, Biss!" Gone was the cheerful tone from before.

"I apologize, my Lord," Kalda replied.

"30 seconds."

"I should let you feel the anguish of all your fears…" whispered Nox. He was now completely dressed in white imperial cold weather equipment and finally put the hood up. "Yes… I should…"

"My Lord! We will attack soon," interjected Vette. He had to concentrate!

"Ah, you are such a killjoy, Sergeant," groaned Nox in an uncomfortable playful voice.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5… all forces attack!"

The soldiers sprang into action and ran towards the fortress, and when they were about 50 metres enough the bombardment stopped and the guards begun to fire upon the attackers.

Kalda and Vette let themselves fall on the ground and hid behind a small rock. Nox had stayed a little back and was almost undistinguishable from the other soldiers. Vette peeked from behind her cover and saw that the defenders were positioned at the entrance, behind solid walls – but they had no cover above them apart from the force-field that was designed to only withhold orbital bombardment.

"We need grenades to smoke them out," yelled Kalda and shot at the enemy before hiding behind the cover again.

"Not necessary," rung a voice from behind them out. Nox had closed in on them and lightning was already crackling from his fingertips. He begun to levitate and Vette knew that he was about to summon a force storm.

"What the…" Kalda didn't finish the sentence.

Violet-white lighting rained down on the defenders; it was an impressive sight to behold. Right and left from them two as Sith disguised imperials went down, apparently they had been shot by enemy snipers hiding somewhere in the surroundings.

"My Lord! Get down!" Vette yelled.

"These snipers are troublesome, let's go inside, shall we?" Nox asked nonchalantly.

Vette suddenly felt that danger was immanent. She jumped up and grabbed Nox and tore him together with herself on the ground. True enough a blaster bolt barely missed them.

Nox lay next to Vette in the snow, their faces were but centimetres away. "No need to get drastic, sergeant – I could have deflected the shot easily," he giggled.

"By the stars! We rely on you! You can't take such risks just for the fun of it! The whole operation could be in danger if you fall!" Vette shouted before she could stop herself.

"How dare you…" snarled Nox, the playful tone once more gone.

"Do you see these two soldiers lying there dressed up as Sith? They are most likely dead! They knew how dangerous their assignment was and still they pulled through! So that you could led us to victory! So please, please… skip the hard-ass Sith act and make sure that _your_ soldiers get home in one piece!"

Nox frowned at her; Vette could hear how Kalda took a deep breath. Without doubt she expected him to kill Vette right on the spot.

"Do you want me to end the battle?" Nox asked. "Pull back the soldiers as soon as we breach the outer defences and I promise you that everything that lives in that fortress will waste away under my tender care… they will experience horrors no one could imagine. I could do that… just say that you want to kill these men and woman in the most horrid way and your wish is my command." He had spoken with a calm voice but Vette knew that the prospect of putting her into this position was turning him on. There was only one option.

She looked him right in the eye. "My Lord, please kill them."

Nox laughed. "Oh and I will." He turned his head to Kalda. "You heard the Sergeant, didn't you? She wants me to drive them all mad!"

Kalda didn't answer.

"Very well, shall we get to it?" Nox stood up and wiped the snow from his clothes. Then he pulled his lightsaber from his belt. "Witness the power of a Dread Master!"


	23. White Room

Badesh was cutting down his enemies as fast as he could, even with the back-up of the troops the progress towards the fortress was slow but steady. Next to him fought Xalek, he also wrought havoc among the Revanites, but it was still clear to Badesh that his combat style was still raw and a little hasty. He had assigned two shock-troopers to watch Xalek's back and from what he had seen they had been very busy.

"My Lord," Quinn's voice in his ear caused Badesh to pause with his next attack. He had stayed further back to coordinate the operation.

"Yes?"

"Team Blue has breached the fortress. According to my calculations the opposition will collapse within the next half hours. No signs of Darth Revan so far."

Badesh reached out with the force and clearly felt Revan's presence. There was no mistaking it. Why hadn't he shown himself?

"Agent Heian – how is the slicing going?" Badesh impaled a reckless force-sensitive who had tried to catch him off guard and had jumped at him.

"Not good so far – the system is closed. I need to get access in the fortress itself."

"Quinn, as soon as the path is clear you will escort Th… Agent Heian into the fortress."

"Yes my Lord."

Badesh was worried. It was too easy, they had yet to meet real opposition. Was it a trap after all? In the end it didn't matter – they simply had to storm the enemy camp one way or another. He interrupted his musings and rejoiced as he killed three enemy soldiers with one strike. He lifted one corpse with the force and threw it against a group of opponents. It wasn't effective but for the shortest moment he felt the sour fear and sweet shock from them.

Badesh fought on, but suddenly he felt a great peril and he jumped as quickly as possible away; a loud explosion shook the ground. Badesh saw nothing but smoke – but the Revanites seemed to have some sort of artillery. When the sight cleared he saw two tanks coming out of the hangar of the base.

"Two Makebian Class-7 hovertanks, my Lord. We need to take them out quick or they will break our formation," said Quinn calmly.

"Leave them to me – they don't have close-combat defences, right?" yelled Badesh and started to run towards the tanks.

"Affirmative. They have a very high fire-power, but the minimal reload time for its cannon is 5 seconds. My Lord, the armour is very thick, even with a lightsaber…"

"Weak point?"

"The armour is the thinnest on the bottom."

Badesh began to focus, he delved deep into his connection to the force and summoned the dreaded picture of Vette and Quinn lying dead on the street of Dromund Kaas. He felt a burning sensation in his chest and registered that his power lever rose. Badesh jumped from one enemy soldier to another, hurrying toward the two massive tanks that fired once again.

Finally he was within reach of the first tank and focused his energy on the ground in front of it. He released the gathered force and a huge part of the frozen ground was lifted into the air, the hovertank lost its balance and slid on its right side, baring it's belly to Badesh who dragged his lightsaber across it; causing the fuel to pour out. Before Badesh could move away the lightsaber had already caused a spark that ignited the fuel. He gritted his teeth and erected a shield with the force; it was probably too weak to save him from the ex… A loud bang and a ball of fire was the last thing Badesh saw as he was hurled away.

He was disorientated and tried to get up, only to fall on his knees. It was almost like back in…

"Badesh! Two force-user are closing in on you!" yelled Quinn.

The voice brought him back to the present. He tried to rise to his feet once more, but his legs failed again. Then he realised that a large metal piece was stuck in his right thigh. He pulled it out and threw it at one of the Revanites approaching him, it caught her by surprise and the shrapnel slid her throat. Blood sprayed from the wound as she fell. The other Revanite swung his lightsaber and was about to strike Badesh when a single blaster bolt penetrated his chest, a second and a third followed. An imperial sniper must have seen that he was in peril. The man was dead before he touched the ground. Badesh didn't see his own lightsaber so he took the ones lying in front of him and struggled to get on his feet. There was still a tank left.

He set his eyes on his goal, the tank was now surrounded by enemy soldiers. Finally a challenge for him, Badesh pulled his mask from his face and let if fall on the frozen ground. Then he reached down to his thigh and touched his wound with the tip of his finger; he put the finger in his mouth and tasted his own blood. It was exciting and suddenly the prospect of killing all these soldiers in front of him exhilarated him to a degree that he forgot about the pain in his leg.

Badesh ignited the lightsaber and lunged at his enemies.

ooOOoo

Half an hour later they had breached to front entrance and rallied in the base. There were still skirmishes, but the imperial forces had won the battle. According to his orders Quinn had brought Theron into the fortress and he immediately begun to slice into the system.

Quinn approached Badesh who was standing in front of a large statue of Revan in the middle of the main entrance hall.

"My Lord, the medics told me that you refused treatment. With all due respects, I…"

Badesh lifted his hand and Quinn stopped in mid-sentence. "I just wanted to make sure that the fight was decided – you may vet me now." He was fully aware that this excuse was weak; as a matter of fact he just didn't think that anyone beside Quinn should dress his wounds.

"Right away, my Lord," replied Quinn and pulled his kolto injector from his utility belt. He kneeled down and applied the kolto on Badesh thigh.

"Find the sniper that killed the force-user that wanted to attack me while I was down – I wish to commend him or her."

Quinn was still focused on vetting him and didn't look up. "The sniper did only his duty; a commendation won't be necessary."

Badesh was taken aback that Quinn would refuse a commendation for an obviously skilled soldier. Then he realised that he had used a male pronoun. "You were the shooter, weren't you?"

"Yes my Lord. I abandoned my post and took the shot. The time wasn't sufficient to coordinate with the designed snipers."

By the stars! Quinn had to be the most accomplished officer in the whole imperial navy. Badesh felt a very strong affection as he looked at him. "I wasn't aware that you had a rifle at all."

Quinn had finished the treatment and rose to his feet. "I didn't – but Agent Heian had one and I took it from him."

"Yeah, he did – at first I thought he would shoot me for the bad puns I made while trying to slice the revanite system." Theron walked slowly towards them. "You have to tell me which cybernetic implants you use – your aim puts mine to shame." He beamed at Quinn who stood at parade rest.

"I don't have implants, Agent Heian. Technology requires maintenance and poses a risk, especially when one relies on it."

"Suit yourself… I hacked the database and it seems that this place it the main base of the revanites. With a little more time we could compile lists with names of Revanites on both sides. In the meantime I've locked every door in the upper levels – Revan can't escape."

Badesh reached out through the force and still felt Revan's presence as well his immense power. Again he mused about the fact that he hadn't shown himself. He also felt Nox' force signature drawing nearer. He turned and saw how Nox entered the main hall from a side corridor. It was strange to see him in imperial uniform. Vette and Kalda followed him; Badesh was relieved to see that Vette wasn't hurt but he couldn't help to notice that she looked haunted. He had to suppress his urge to touch her.

"My Lord, shall I see to your wounds?" asked Quinn as soon as Nox had joined them.

Nox had indeed several blaster grazes and cuts. But neither the uniform nor the injuries were the what astounded Badesh – it was the absence of the Dread Force.

"Do it," commanded Nox and said to Vette "and bring me my robes – if we face the legendary Revan I want to look like an member of the Dark Council." He turned his attention again to Badesh. "It was magnificent, Darth Tenebra. I'm afraid I enjoyed myself a little too much… I need to meditate shortly before we can continue."

Badesh simply nodded. He felt clearly how powerful their opponent was – they needed their full power at their disposal. For the first time Badesh was unsure whether he could actually best an opponent. "Quinn, let all non-essential personnel retreat and prepare Project Meteorite."

"Right away, my Lord." Quinn ended the treatment of Nox and briskly walked away to contact the squad leaders.

"Wait – what's Project Meteorite?" asked Kalda. "It wasn't mentioned during our briefing."

"You will show Darth Tenebra the respect he is due!" growled Nox and with a wave of his hand he cause Kalda to collapse and scream. After a few seconds it was over and she slowly got up; Kalda looked sick.

"It's our contingency plan should we fail," replied Badesh. "Kilran has orders to drive an imperial battle cruiser through the force field and let it crash on the base. It will bury everything within the fortress for good."

Theron looked shocked, then his lips curled up in a sad smile. "Even after all this I was right to come to you… you will indeed to everything necessary to stop the Revanites."

"Of course, for the good of the Empire."

After Nox had meditated he and Badesh decided to access the upper levels. They were only accompanied by a small elite troop. Badesh had briefly considered to order Vette and Quinn to retreat but he quickly decided against it – he trusted that their presence would tip the coming battle in his favour. He also brought Theron and Kalda along, they had proved useful in the past.

As they stepped into the elevator Badesh's holocommunicator beeped. It was Cipher Nine.

"My Lord, we have searched the upper levels; it seems that there are no opponents left at least not anymore... There is only the main chamber we haven't investigated yet."

"Stay put; we will arrive shortly and take care of Revan," growled Badesh and ended the holocall. He glanced at Vette who stood next to him, she seemed surprisingly calm considered that they were about to face a very powerful force-user. Quinn was checking his kolto injector and was as intense as usual. Badesh reached out with the force and touched the force-signatures of his friends; it was a possibility that it would be the last time after all. No… he would kill Revan, cut him into shreds! Excitement flowed through him. A glorious battle – and he would personally defeat a legend!

The elevator had finally reached its destination and Badesh exited it almost in a hurry. Revan's force signature guided him directly to the location of Nine and Vector; there were bodies lying in the corridors – it seemed that the agents were indeed very skilled.

Theron stepped to the locked blast door and begun to slice it. Vette stood next to him and watched how he applied various tricks to get the obstacle to open up.

She returned to Badesh and said in a low voice: "The door is locked from the outside. Is it possible that this is rather a prison than a hide-out?"

Badesh frowned. Was this the explanation why Revan hadn't shown up for battle? Was he a prisoner and not the leader of his own cult?

Before he had time to muse over this question any longer the door slid open.

Theron stood at a console and grinned at him. "Piece of cake!"

Badesh briskly walked into the room. At first he was almost blinded by the sheer whiteness of the chamber: the wall, the floor and even the computer consoles were painted in a glowing white. Despite his initial confusion he never lost track of the powerful force-signature that resided in the middle of the chamber.

"Revan… at last…" said Nox almost giddy with pleasure.

The imperial troops spread out and secured the room. Badesh felt clearly that Vette and Quinn stepped closer to him while Theron and Kalda pulled back.

Finally his eyesight allowed him to see the figure in white robes which seemed to float in mid-air. Badesh closed in on Revan, his and Nox' steps echoed in the almost empty room. By the time that he had approached Revan Badesh had already asserted through the force what he saw now: the infamous Revan was reduced to a crippled prisoner. His arms and legs had been cut off and his body was suspended in the air by a force-field.

"Greetings… it… has been… a long time…" stammered Revan.


	24. Escape

"By the fucking starlights!" muttered Vette under her breath as she looked at the man who she thought mere moments ago to be the most dangerous being in the galaxy. She hadn't even tried to imagine what he would look like, but anything she would've come up with would have been very far away from this old, spent and mutilated human being. Deep wrinkles had buried themselves into his face and his long, shaggy grey hair only added to the impression that he not only was a prisoner but also a badly treated one.

"What an anticlimactic development," Nox sounded disappointed.

"Indeed," added Badesh. "But it is fascinating, even though he is but a shell of his former self he still emanating so much power."

"So much… time… and no Jedi?" mumbled Revan.

Vette allowed herself to relax – it seemed that the old man didn't pose any threat anymore. But it was worrying anyway… who had freed Revan from the maelstrom prison only to maim him and let him vegetate here?

"Of course not, Jedi are as weak as spineless," scoffed Nox and crossed his arms.

"…at least one is… here… someone of my own kin."

He was talking about Theron! This was bad, if Nox learned that… Vette stopped her train of though. Someone of his own kin?

Badesh turned to Theron and glared at him. "Are you related to Revan?"

Nox jerked his head towards Theron but remained silent.

"No! I mean… I don't know…" retorted Theron and took a step back, away from Badesh.

"My Lord… the records mentioned that Revan travelled with the Jedi Bastila Shan." Quinn pulled a med scanner from his utility belt and begun to scan Revan. "Darth Revan was apparently the forefather of Satele Shan and therefore Agent Heian."

"Interesting company you keep, Darth Tenebra," remarked Nox dryly. "Oh, I am looking forward to have a word with you… Agent."

Vette felt sorry for Theron, she actually believed that he hadn't known about his heritage. He looked very distressed and exchanged glances with Kalda.

"Who imprisoned you, Darth Revan?" asked Badesh calmly.

"… someone of my own kin… at least … someone of my own kin," slurred Revan, then he blinked a few times. "… I was imprisoned by the Sith Emperor."

Next to Vette Badesh took a deep breath while Nox started to giggle. She looked at Quinn who had a harrowed expression on his face; Vette stepped forward and grabbed his arm. Quinn stared at her, he looked nauseous.

"Why?" Badesh clasped his hands behind his back.

"... harnessing my power… making everything dark…"

"That is impossible, nobody can harness the force," replied Badesh. "It flows through everything and cannot be bound, only bent."

"And yet you were drawn by his power and came before him," said Nox. "Perhaps that was all that was needed? A rallying point for the discontent people on both sides… an ancient legend who had been Sith as well as a Jedi."

"You mean… everything was orchestrated by the Sith Emperor?" asked Kalda disbelievingly. "Why in the galaxy would he do that? What would he gain?"

"Is it possible that Revan is simply rambling or even lying?" Theron had regained his composure and had stepped closer to his ancestor.

"No," replied Badesh. "Quinn and Vette had already found cues that pointed in the same direction."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nox didn't sound angry, only less cheerful than before.

"Because it's high treason to even question the action of the Emperor and we didn't have concrete proof."

"The question remains… what would the Emperor gain?" Kalda rubbed her temples and stared at Revan.

"Quinn – do you have any thoughts on that matter?" asked Badesh.

"My Lord… I… I can't think of anything," stammered Quinn, sounding insecure. Vette felt a stab in her heart, it was unsettling to see Quinn in such a disarray.

"I have a suspicion," Nox slowly began. "But I need to confirm it first, otherwise it could lead us astray. I will have to return to Korriban and talk to my old master." Then he simply turned around and left the chambers, his robe billowing behind him. Xalek followed him.

Badesh stared for a while at Revan, then he pulled his holocommunicator from his pocket. The small bluish figure of Grand Moff Kilran appeared.

"Grand Moff, the operation was a success. We have Revan, or what's left of him."

"Splendid, my Lord. How shall we proceed?" Kilran sounded as blithely as always.

"I will question Revan personally, it may take some time. Leave a detachment of your most loyal men with me and return to the Imperial Fleet. Surely you absence has been noted, but there is no need to arouse further suspicion. The conspiracy is not over yet."

"I trust you will inform me as soon you know something substantial?" inquired Kilran.

"Of course," Badesh ended the call and turned to Vette and Quinn. "You may return to the _Fury_ … you should get some rest."

"I guess the same goes for us, huh?" asked Kalda. "Or are we free to leave?"

"No," replied Badesh curtly. "Return to the _Fury_ as well."

Vette was a little surprised that Badesh didn't simply let the former SIS-agents be thrown into prison. As far as she could see the matter had become an imperial one, it made no sense to involve them further. At the same time she was relieved that their fellowship hadn't come to an end – even though it wasn't voluntary.

ooOOoo

"So, what happens next?" Theron let himself fall on the lounge next to the commstation in the middle of the ship.

"Our next destination will be concluded as soon as Darth Tenebra has finished his interrogation," replied Quinn while checking for holo-messages.

Kalda stood next to Theron with crossed arms. "I think our co-operation has reached its end. I suggest you leave the _Fury_ and we… well, we get out of here."

Vette put her right hand on her blaster and scanned Theron and Kalda with her eyes. They weren't armed anymore; what were they planning? "Guys… don't do it… whatever you are up to."

"I'm sorry Vette, but this is probably the best chance we have," Theron smiled sadly.

"I assume you have manipulated something to force us off the _Fury_? May I inquire what it is?" asked Quinn coolly.

"The _Glowfly_ carries an active bomb – and its yield is enough to blow a nice hole on whatever docking bay it is. And since you brought it to the Imperial Fleet I assume that the damage would be rather big. And before you think to pull your weapons…" Theron showed that he held a small device in his palm. "I just have to press the button."

"You could be lying," retorted Quinn. He still stood unmoved at the commstation.

"I could be – but I am not. And you wouldn't take the risk, right Quinn? Step away from that console."

Quinn did as he was told. Kalda made a step towards Vette, but before she could reach her Theron groaned and lost consciousness. As he fell on the floor Vette drew her blasters and pointed them at Kalda.

"I am sorry too," she said. "Down on the ground, hands behind your head."

"What the fuck did you do to Theron?" Kalda yelled.

Quinn also drew his blaster and trained it at Kalda. "It's not permanent – when I treated him after Alderaan I also scanned his implants. Vette designed a nano-virus that I inserted during the next routine check that would shut down his neural pathways through the implants. I simply set a timer as soon as it became clear that you are attempting to flee."

Kalda glared at them and finally lay down and put her hands behind her head. "What if I had been the one to hold the detonator?"

"We will never know, won't we?" retorted Quinn smoothly.

Vette cuffed Kalda and Theron. Then she helped Kalda on the lounge and together with Quinn they put Theron also on it. Then she picked up the detonator and handed it to Quinn. He had a quick look at it and activated the holocommstation.

"Imperial Fleet, this is Major Quinn from the _Fury_. There is a bomb aboard the starship _Glowfly_ – search it and report back to me."

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

Quinn turned to face Kalda. "I am impressed, Agent Biss. It seems that we got careless around you."

"Stop patronizing me!" replied Kalda angry.

"It wasn't my intention to insult you," stated Quinn calmly.

Theron groaned. "What… what happened?"

"We sliced your implant," said Vette and helped Theron to sit up. "The bomb is being disarmed as we speak."

"You mean you can shut me down anytime?"

"Yes," replied Quinn curtly.

"Crap…" Theron looked dejected. Vette felt sorry for him and Kalda; after this attempted escape they would probably be sent into an imperial prison.

ooOOoo

To her surprise Badesh didn't even bat an eye at the news that Theron and Kalda had tried to blow up the Imperial Fleet.

"Of course they tried to escape. Quinn, plot a course to Dromund Kaas; Vette secure the agents in the cargo bay."

"If you have any respect for us… let us go," said Kalda with a firm voice. "I don't want to croak in an imperial interrogation cell."

Vette remembered her promise, but as things were she couldn't simply kill them in cold blood.

Badesh removed his mask and put it on the lounge table, then he sat down across from Kalda. "If you were in my place, would you let your prisoners go?"

"Yes," replied Theron with a frown.

"No," answered Kalda, "but you are a member of the Dark Council and we are only simple agents. That is hardly the same."

Theron leaned forward. "I would let you go, Sith or not. And I think that we earned our freedom. You gain nothing by taking us to Dromund Kaas, we don't have useful intel anymore."

Vette decided to speak up. "Boss, I think we should let them go… they helped us and we could repay them by letting them free. They would surely end up in a horrible place and I… like them too much to let that happen." She knew that her opinion wouldn't change Badesh's decision, but at the same time she felt that she owed it to Theron and Kalda to try at least.

"I concur with Vette, my Lord," said Quinn stiffly. "It would be … honourable."

Vette was taken aback. The way Theron and Kalda stared disbelievingly at Quinn probably mirrored her own facial expression.

"You surprise me, Quinn," remarked Badesh. "But I…"

Before he could finish his sentence a shrill beeping rang through the room. Vette checked the commstation and saw that it was an incoming call… on Theron's line.

"Caller ID unknown, but somebody to trying to reach Theron."

"Quinn, uncuff him – take the call, Agent Heian. But don't say anything about your location."

As soon as he was free, Theron stepped to the commstation and pushed the receive button. The look on his face was tense, Vette suspected that he already knew that the call wouldn't be pleasant.

The picture of the caller materialised: It was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Satele Shan.

"Theron," she said calmly. Satele's voice expressed authority and self-confidence.

"Grand Master," Theron replied with an unusual serious expression on his face.

"I am relieved to see you well. I apologize for not calling sooner, but I was on an important mission."

"I understand. The well-being of many is more important than the well-being of an individual."

Vette felt sad for Theron, he seemed calm and collected but he was… different than is usual self. It was like he was trying to imitate his mother's detached speech.

"Indeed it is. I seem to feel a powerful presence through the holo; who is with you?"

So Badesh had decided not to hide his force signature. Vette glanced at him, Badesh put his mask back on and stepped next to Theron. She was certain that he enjoyed Theron's discomfort and hoped to rile up Satele.


	25. Medbay

"Grand Master." Badesh drew very near to Theron and could almost feel his body heat.

"I take it that Theron is your prisoner, Sith?"

It was disappointing that he couldn't feel any emotions from Satele. She truly was a Jedi. Badesh briefly considered to threaten Theron, but he felt that even that wouldn't provoke her enough to anger her.

"On the contrary… Theron came to me on his own accord. He asked for my help."

"A typical Sith lie," replied Satele and clasped her hands behind her back.

Badesh mirrored her gesture and sneered: "Ask him yourself, if you don't believe me."

He felt Theron's bitter anxiety and was surprised to discover that he didn't enjoy it as much as he had anticipated.

"I did ask for his help, but I…" Theron began sheepishly, but his mother interrupted him.

"It doesn't matter. Release my agent, Sith. I regret the path he has taken, but you can't blackmail me. There are greater things at stake than my personal feelings."

"How rude, you didn't even ask my name. Aren't you interested to learn who has our son his custody?" Badesh grew irritated by Sateles neutral attitude and casually put his hand around Theron's neck.

"It's irrelevant. I have seen enough Sith to determine that you are exchangeable, you trust on your brute strength and the mindless obedience of your subordinates. By asking your name I would only imply that there is a personal level to our conversation and give you a sense of self-importance that isn't earned."

Badesh felt how anger boiled up in his chest. He was a powerful Sith! A member of the Dark Council! How did this damn Jedi dare to speak to him like that! "Shall I snap Theron's neck while you are watching?" He intensified his grip.

"Of course not… but it is interesting that you call him by his first name. So you and Theron really worked together, didn't you?"

Badesh snorted; it seemed that the Jedi was quite perspective.

"Whatever you may think of me… I did it to save lives," said Theron in a low voice.

"I know that you believe that, Theron. But nothing good comes from the Dark Side, it only taints everything that it touches."

Badesh's previous fury suddenly disappeared. It was as if Satele had spoken out loud what he had thought when musing about getting closer to Quinn and Vette. Yes, he was tainted… and he would spoil…

"You are wrong!" Theron yelled. "You know nothing of the reality out here in the galaxy. You only sit in your ivory tower in the Jedi Academy and judge people for the choices they had to make!"

Badesh was surprised about Theron's outburst, but so was apparently Satele. Badesh registered something akin to shock on her face.

"Theron… you have fallen far. You betrayed your feelings, I can clearly feel that you have sympathies for the Sith. I question your misplaced affection for this servant of the Dark Side. Can't you feel how twisted and dangerous the Sith is?"

Theron wiped over his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he continued with a throaty voice: "Of course I can feel it. I would even go so far as to say that Badesh is one of the most dangerous force-users in the galaxy. He succeeded against impossible odds and after all I have seen I wouldn't put past him to singlehandedly cripple the republic war effort."

"Yes, he is very strong in the Force…"

"It's not about the Force, mother."

Badesh had been so fascinated by the conversation that he had loosened his grip on Theron's neck and when the agents suddenly jerked himself free and rushed towards Quinn he was about a fraction of a second too late to hinder him to punch Quinn in face and grab his blaster. Badesh ignited his lightsaber, while Vette pulled her blasters. But Theron had already taken Quinn into a headlock and aimed the blaster at Badesh.

"What madness is this? You don't stand a chance against me!" growled Badesh. The sight of a slightly injured Quinn made him livid he had to supress the immediate urge to crush Theron's head with the force lest Quinn wouldn't be shot accidentally.

Theron continued to speak to his mother, but his eyes didn't leave Badesh: "You would be right about the Sith if it weren't for his companions. Badesh is more dangerous than any other Sith I have met because he has _friends_! Because he has a motivation beyond duty and his own quest for power."

Badesh saw from the corner of his eye how Vette slowly approached the commstation. Undoubtedly she wanted to use the sliced implant to stop Theron.

"Theron… you don't know what you are talking about. Whatever lies the Sith has told you, those entrenched in the Dark Side are incapable of anything beyond superficial affection and caprice."

The agent put the muzzle of the blaster on Quinn's temple. Quinn gritted his teeth, the expression on his face told Badesh that he fully expected to die. Everything seemed to slow down, Badesh was about to attack Theron, but then the agent lowered the blaster until the muzzle was trained at Quinn's shoulder blade and pulled the trigger. Quinn screamed and Badesh lost the last bit of self-restraint as he lounged at Theron. He let the blaster fall and closed his eyes as if he was waiting for death. With one swift movement Badesh cut Theron's right hand off, in the process he also grazed Quinn's cheek. Theron let go of Quinn who fell on the floor. Blood was swooshing in Badesh's ears as he registered that Quinn was bleeding. Quinn was hurt! QUINN WAS HURT! Badesh grabbed Theron and threw him in the nearest wall. Nobody had the right to lay a finger on Malavai! Theron coughed up blood and looked Badesh straight in the eye as the Sith bent over him and broke his left arm by stomping on it. He screamed in agony but when Badesh was about to slice his throat he suddenly just lost consciousness and slowly slid on the floor. Badesh jerked his head around and saw that Vette stood in front of the console – she had interrupted Theron's neural pathways once more.

"I was right… nothing but mindless passion," muttered Satele. Her face didn't betray any emotions.

"Shut up, lady!" yelled Vette. "Theron was right – you don't know anything about real live! Otherwise you would have realised a long time ago that indifference is much worse than any other emotion, be it love or hate!"

Badesh knelt down next to Quinn who was still bleeding from his shoulder.

"My Lord… I apologize for my inattentiveness," panted Quinn and pressed his left hand on his wound.

"You are mistaken, Sergeant," said Satele calmly. "I am anything but indifferent and that's the reason why I have to make great personal sacrifices – for the greater good. I will mourn my son in my own way." With these words the holocall ended and her picture vanished.

Badesh carefully opened Quinn's jacket to assess the injury. Vette rushed beside him and pulled the kolto-injector from Quinn's belt.

"Stay still, Mal… we will take care of you."

A smile flickered across Quinn face before it screwed up in pain once again. "I know you will… my love."

As soon as Badesh had opened Quinn's bloodied shirt Vette began to vet him.

"It seems to be a clear through and though bullet wound," groaned Quinn. "You just have to apply the kolto at the entrance and exit wound."

"This isn't my first blaster shot, y'know," retorted Vette. "Just lay back and let me work."

Badesh watched how the viscous blood from the graze slowly ran down Quinn's face. He reached out and wiped it softly away, he felt as if this was the most intimate moment he had ever shared with Quinn. He stared at the blood on his fingertips and was thrilled. It saddened him that he felt this way; it made him feel… apart from Vette and Quinn. It was as if there were two souls in his chest which repelled each other: he wanted to be close to his loved ones and at the same time it excited him more than it should to know that he could taste Quinn's blood right here and now.

He watched how Vette bandaged Quinn's chest; he memorised every touch.

Theron started to moan and tried to sit up, the stun was wearing off. Badesh rose to his feet and walked briskly to him. Theron looked miserable, the lightsaber had cauterized his wrist. Seeing him lying on the floor, hurt and desperate, moved Badesh against his will.

"I am surprised that you didn't finish the job," whispered Theron.

"Perhaps I will," replied Badesh in an attempt to summon contempt against Theron. "I don't take kindly to people who hurt my… crew."

"I know," Theron said in a teary voice.

Badesh felt a hand at his upper arm and was surprised to see Quinn standing next to him. Vette had apparently finished the treatment.

"My Lord, we should vet Agent Heian – he won't survive the voyage to Dromund Kaas without medical attention."

He had spoken as collected as ever, but Quinn looked pale. Badesh also registered that he leaned slightly against his arm.

"I agree… it would be a waste to kill him now. But if you want him dead just say the word, Quinn. I would kill him for you," growled Badesh.

"That won't be necessary, my Lord. Agent Heian could have killed me with a shot to the head, but he chose not to. In fact he even avoided to hit vital organs."

Vette stepped next to Quinn and touched his back slightly. "We should all go to the Medbay."

Without any other word Badesh grabbed Theron and threw him over his shoulder. He groaned and Badesh shortly regretted to have handled him so roughly.

ooOOoo

About an hour later Theron had been vetted and Vette brought him into the cargo bay since the _Fury_ didn't have any prison cells. Quinn sat on the bedside – Vette had removed his jacket and his shirt – he looked better now, he had even treated himself with additional drugs and palmed the now completely healed injury on his shoulder. Badesh tried not to stare, but every attempt to focus on anything else than Quinn failed miserably: Seeing him made Badesh nervous and content at the same time.

Vette returned and sat also on the bedside. "Theron and Kalda are both in the cargo room; I double-checked their shackles." She gave Quinn a peck on his cheek. "I'm sorry, Mal. But I still feel sorry for them."

"I understand, as stated before – he obviously didn't want to kill me. It was an act of desperation."

Badesh drew closer and leaned against the bedside. "We can't let them go; it is imperial law that every force-sensitive should be brought to Korriban."

Vette stared at him. "What? You want Theron to become a Sith? He would never do that – heck, he is even too soft to be a spy."

"I know…" replied Badesh and wiped his face with his right hand. It was an unfortunate situation – he wanted to let Theron and Kalda go, but they simply knew too much.

"My… Badesh, there might be another way to deal with the agents," Quinn stood up from the bed. "We could discredit them with the Republic in a way that would make it impossible for them to ever work the SIS again."

Badesh felt heat crawl up his cheeks as he looked in Quinn's eyes. Then he forced himself to look away. By the Force, he wanted to touch him… he loved him. Of course Quinn had an answer – like always. "What do you have in mind?"

"We should commend them officially for their service for the Empire and make sure that the SIS learns about it."

"But they will never defect," objected Vette. Badesh had thought that avoiding Quinn's gaze would calm him down, but seeing Vette only added to his arousal. To feel her caring hands on his skin …

"That's not necessary – the point is that they can't return into republic service. Should they ever be back in the graces of the SIS their information about us will be at least obsolete." Quinn allowed himself a coy smile as he looked at Vette.

She smiled back and caressed his cheek with her hand. Her slender fingers moved across his jawline, Quinn took a deep breath and stepped closer to her. Vette stood up from the bedside and put her other hand on Quinn's face – he embraced her. Badesh felt his arousal rise, the Medbay seemed to heat up. He was suddenly keenly aware of his close proximity to Vette and Quinn. Vette's hands were still on Quinn's cheeks when she set her sights on Badesh. She didn't smile, she simply looked at him. He registered that his breathing became slightly ragged, the look on her face… He should go! Leave while… but his train of thoughts was derailed when Vette finally turned back to Quinn and kissed him passionately. Quinn's eyes slid shut and he kissed her with a ferocity that took away Badesh's breath once more. He stood there unable to move, his lasciviousness rose even more as he continued to watch his friends caressing each other. Finally they broke their kiss and let go of each other. Quinn turned to Badesh, he put his hand on Badesh's chest. The touch electrified him and Badesh was now completely enthralled by him, gone was every thought of leaving. Quinn stepped closer until their faces were but centimetres away from each other. Badesh breathing became heavy as he watched how Malavai drew even closer.

"Permission to kiss you, my Lord?" Quinn whispered in his adorable voice, his lips only millimetres away from Badesh's mouth.

Badesh leaned down to the smaller man and kissed him as softly as possible. Feeling Quinn's lips on his set his chest on fire. With shaking hands he embraced Quinn and began to explore Quinn's mouth with his tongue. It was absolute bliss. After a while he became again aware that they weren't alone. Badesh ended the kiss softly and turned to Vette. The way she looked at them left no doubt that she was aroused by simply watching them. Badesh let go of Quinn, reached out and pulled her close to him; Badesh caressed her lekkus with his right hand before he shyly kissed her. She replied his advances with unexpected passion and surprised him further when she opened his tunic after a short while and let it glide onto the floor. Suddenly he felt Malavai behind him, he placed kisses on Badesh's spine, trailing his muscular form with his fingertips.

Badesh closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations.


	26. Togruta & Twi'lek

Seeing Quinn and Badesh sleeping next to each other caused Vette to smile. Both looked different when they weren't awake, so peaceful and relaxed. She sat on Badesh's bed in his quarters, leaning against the wall. As silently as possible she got up. She opened the door and left, before the door slid close she caught a last glimpse of the men in the bed – Vette smiled again and walked to her bunk to change her clothes.

She mused about Theron and Kalda. Perhaps she should tell them that they wouldn't end up in a dungeon in Dromund Kaas. But what if there were complications? Badesh himself had said that imperial law required that every force-sensitive had to attend the Sith academy. It would be cruel to give them hope if it wasn't secured that everything would be fine. As she dressed herself Vette decided that she had to wait before announcing anything to Kalda and Theron.

Before she put her pants on Vette briefly examined a bite mark on her tight; perhaps she should put some kolto on it. She went into the Medbay and smeared some kolto gel on it before she grabbed a medkit and walked into the cargo bay.

ooOOoo

Theron and Kalda still sat cuffed on a mattress that Vette had placed on the floor to make them more comfortable. Theron looked ill while Kalda had a grim expression on her face.

"Theron, how are you holding up? Do you want some painkillers?" she asked and knelt down beside him to feel his forehead.

"How is he supposed to hold up? Badesh cut his damn hand off!" Kalda's comment lacked the usual self-confidence. She sounded tired.

"I know," replied Vette. "And I am sorry…"

Theron smiled at her, but it was obvious that he was desperate. "Hey, I'm the one who tried to commit suicide by Sith. Just give me a few painkillers."

"Here you go," Vette put two pills on his tongue and gave him water to shallow them. "Do you want anything else? Are you hungry?"

Theron shook his head. Kalda hesitated and finally said: "I'm hungry."

"Alright, let's go to the mess hall – but you have to stay cuffed." Vette opened the chain that tied Kalda's cuffs to a pipe at the wall.

"Is that really necessary?" asked Theron.

"After you little display earlier? Yeah, it is," answered Vette and helped Kalda on her feet.

Vette brought Kalda a fish dish and sat down next to her. She cut the fish and shoved it on the fork, then she fed Kalda with it; her hands were still bound behind her back.

"You really seem to like fish, Kalda. You replicate it more than any of us – I am more a nerfburger type."

Kalda chewed and after swallowing the food she replied. "I do, but it also gives me comfort."

"Comfort? In what sense?"

"It's silly, I know… but I have read that Togruta on Shili eat mostly fish. I feel connected to my heritage when I eat fish."

Vette put the fork down and put her hand on Kaldas upper arm and pressed it a little. Then she continued to feed her. "I can relate to that. Being born in a xenophobic society does that to you, doesn't it? You just see that you are different, but you only know human customs. When I was a child it confused me to no end – I was no human, but what and who was I?"

Kalda laughted, but there was no joy in it. "Tell me about it… when I was 15 years old I actually tried to learn Togruti, I even stopped wearing shoes because I have read that Togruta usually don't wear them."

"You said 'tried' – what stopped you?" asked Vette.

"The more I read about the way I was supposed to be – a proud hunter who despised weakness and individualism. The more it felt… wrong. Even the language felt wrong. It took a while, but I had to learn that I am no more a Togruta than a human. What about you? Didn't you try to connect to you heritage too?"

"Nope, it never crossed my mind. All I ever aspired to was being… as close as possible on being a human – once I even tried to hide my lekku under a hood, but of course the other slaves just made fun of me. Some time back I was a member of a Twi'lek relic hunter gang – we tried to save rylothian relics sometimes, but we did it mostly for the money. But our leader, Taunt, was a very proud woman and taught me to be a proud of my heritage. But of course it didn't work that well… I mean, Ryloth's main export has been slaves for over 500 years. There is no Twi'lek culture left besides that we have to do to be good slaves."

"Somehow I can't imagine that you were truly a 'good slave', Vette."

"Nah, I wasn't – I soon learned that humour is the weapon of unarmed people. My masters didn't appreciate it when I got cheeky. I paid a high price for my jokes of course, but since I got nothing else I still stuck with it."

They fell silent for a moment, before Vette spoke again: "There is one thing that is good about not knowing who you are supposed to be," Vette smiled at Kalda. "With a clean slate you can become whoever you wish to be."

"You are wrong," retorted Kalda. "Not knowing who you are isn't setting you free – it merely limits your identity to the viewpoints of outsiders and how they see you."

"I don't agree; I am who I am because I chose to exceed any expectations placed in me. Not that they were that high…"

Kalda looked as if she wanted to object, but then she simply looked away. It was clear for Vette that she had remembered that they were on their way to Dromund Kaas. Seeing a spirited woman like Kalda simply giving up bothered Vette.

"Whatever happens, I will keep my promise – you won't suffer." Vette glanced on the plate – during their discussion she had forgotten to feed Kalda, the dish was probably cold now.

"You can't promise that," replied Kalda flatly.

"Listen… don't lose hope. We will think of something!" Vette smiled at her.

"I doubt it… please bring me back to the cargo bay. I'm not hungry anymore."

ooOOoo

Vette returned to Badesh's quarters. Quinn had left, probably for the shower, and Badesh was about to dress himself. Vette let her gaze glide over his muscular body and decided to ask about the large black tattoos on his chest.

"Are these…" she stepped closer and casually touched the tattoos, "some kind of Sith symbols?"

Badesh lips curled slightly upwards. "No, I simply wanted to cover the crest of my family that was inked into my skin after I joined the Sith academy."

"You could have simply removed the tattoo altogether."

"No, I didn't want to erase my past, I simply wanted to… drown it under something larger and darker."

"If you ask me… a colourful butterfly or a roaring nexu would have done the job too," Vette beamed at Badesh.

He was visibly confused. Badesh wasn't very good with jokes, he usually brooded too much and therefore missed it when she tried to lighten up the mood with a joke. Vette knew him good enough to anticipate that he would change the subject; he usually did when something puzzled him.

"Did you check on the agents?" Badesh asked and put his tunic back on. In this moment Quinn returned, he wore a fresh uniform and looked as prim and proper as always. Nothing indicated that he hadn't been so prim and proper two hours ago.

"Yeah, and they are not doing well… but it's understandable. They are afraid of what will happen to them. Theron is trying to put up a brave face, but Kalda has resigned. Have you already decided whether you want to proceed with Quinn's plan?"

"I will, but there is still the matter of Theron's force-sensitivity and of course the fact that his mother is the Grand Master. He would be a powerful weapon in terms of propaganda…"

Vette crossed her arms. "I don't know… Satele Shan doesn't care much about her son. She said it herself – she has already made a lot of personal sacrifices. She would probably simply deny that he is her son and everybody would believe her."

"That may be true, but since Darth Nox knows about Theron's lineage we need a good reason to let him go. It has to have strategic value…" interjected Quinn.

"Well, we sliced his implants; couldn't we say that we use him as mole – either he complies and delivers information or we kill him with his own implants – or some bullshit like that. And when they are gone, we can leak that the Empire commended them."

"Interesting, a good plan. Might I recommend that we actually try to turn Agent Heian? There is no need to waste resources," said Quinn.

Vette eyed him. "I though you wanted to let them go as well?"

"I did – because it would serve no purpose to let them suffer under a prolonged interrogation. But as double-agents they would have considerable value for us." Quinn rubbed his chin. "The question is whether they would comply."

"They wouldn't! Neither of them cracked on Alderaan and a simple death threat wouldn't change that! Come on guys – we should just let them go and pretend to do the whole double-agent thing."

Badesh nodded. "I agree with Vette. It would be complicated anyway to make up a cover story for the Grand Master. I highly doubt that she would believe it – and given the opportunity she could always read the mind of her son. Theron is too untrained to withstand a Jedi as powerful as her."

"Shall I set up everything?" inquired Quinn.

"Yes, everything must be ready when we reach Dromund Kaas. You and Vette can inform the agents about our decision."

ooOOoo

After an hour everything had been arranged. Quinn and Vette went into the Medbay before talking to the agents. Quinn was collecting drugs for Theron.

"We should stock cybernetic limbs," he murmured when he rummaged through the supplies. "Statistically seen there is a high possibility that one of us could be unfortunate enough to lose a hand or a leg too."

"You are really a ray of sunshine, Mal. But I guess you're right – we were lucky so far… well, apart from the time where my lekku got cut off and you were virtually cut in half on Hoth… now that I think about it, Badesh had suffered quite a few injuries too." Vette scratched her head.

"I have everything," Quinn simply remarked and strode towards the cargo bay. Vette followed him.

She felt bad as she saw how desperate Theron and Kalda looked when they entered. Perhaps she should have hinted that they were planning to free them?

Quinn stood at parade rest as he addressed Theron and Kalda. "Agent Biss, Agent Heian – Darth Tenebra has decided to end your captivity. We will free you."

Kalda jerked her head upwards and stared incredulously at Quinn. Theron's brows were knitted together and glanced from Vette to Quinn and back.

"Is… is this some kind of trick?" asked Theron. "Or is it some imperial euphemism for 'we are going to off you'?"

Vette smiled. "After all this time you still think that the evil Imperials use nice words to tell somebody that they are going to be killed? Nah, it's true – Quinn cooked up a plan that we can let you go."

Vette enjoyed the indignant look that Quinn shot her. "I didn't 'cook up' anything – I devised a plan of action. And might I remind you that you also had your part in it."

"I… I don't know what to say…" whispered Kalda. "That's not possible – there has to be a catch!"

"Indeed, there is: we are going to discredit you in a way that makes it impossible for you to return to the SIS – at least for a certain time," replied Quinn calmly.

"Discredit us?" Theron blushed. "And… how?"

Vette registered that Theron had obviously something in mind, she was also quite certain that Quinn as well as Kalda had seen it too. There was only one conclusion possible, given the way Badesh had lusted after Theron: He had slept with him. Vette was only mildly surprised, she hadn't thought that Theron would have sex with a Sith – but on the other hand she never thought that she would have a hot threesome with an imperial officer and a member of the Dark Council. So, everything was relative in a way.

"We will commend you for your excellent service to the Empire," answered Quinn, he even managed to say it without any trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"That's it?" asked Kalda.

Vette nodded. "The reports will say that we turned you and managed to coerce you to spy for us – but we all know that wouldn't happen anyway – so yeah, that's it."

"And I assume that the SIS will learn about the commendations?" asked Theron.

"Of course," replied Quinn. "I have arranged a transport for you from the Dromund Kaas orbital station to Voss. You will remain bound until then." Quinn crouched down next to Theron and scanned him. "I trust you will feel better when we reach our destination, Agent Heian."

"I guess I should thank you for ruining my reputation, Major – you too, Vette," said Theron with a faint smile.

Vette beamed at him; she didn't miss that Kalda still glared at them.


	27. Holopicture

Badesh sat on Kalda's bed in the crew quarters and looked through her belongings. Finally he found the holopicture he was looking for. He activated it and saw the minor Togruta Kalda had looked at.

Quinn strode into the room and snapped almost at attention as he addressed Badesh. "My Lo… Badesh, everything is prepared – the agents will leave us as soon as we reach Dromund Kaas."

"Excellent… tell, me Malavai, did you find any clues who this," he showed the holopicture, "might be?"

"Vette and I have searched their belongings earlier. We found nothing that would indicate who the girl is."

Badesh stared at the picture, his curiosity was piqued. Should he ask Kalda? He rose to his feet. Suddenly he realised how close he was to Quinn and he had to suppress the urge to caress his face. He couldn't… Badesh suspected that Quinn and Vette already regretted having let him partake… in their love. Theron had after all regretted it too. The mere though caused his heart to ache.

Quinn blushed slightly. "Badesh… my Lord… I sincerely hope that my actions today haven't changed your opinion of me. In the heat of the moment I didn't fully consider how inappropriate the way I behaved was. It was of course presumptuous of me to think that you would lower yourself to consort with me. For that I beg your pardon."

Badesh blinked a few times before he comprehended what Quinn was saying. By the force! Did he actually think that he – the insane murderer – was too good for him? Badesh felt the overwhelming need to tell Quinn how much he admired and loved him and yet he simply stood there, unable to open his mouth.

The silence lay heavy on them, finally Quinn cleared his throat. "Yet again I have overstepped my bounds, my Lord. I shouldn't have brought it up, I apologize again." He bowed stiffly.

Badesh's mind worked franticly; he had to say it! But how? What would Vette do? She would just speak her mind.

"Malavai… you are the person I never knew I missed in my life, until I met you. You are the sole reason that I that I keep going through all the hardships. Without you I am lost in my anger, you are my beacon… I love you." Badesh felt how his heart started to pound faster as he had ended.

Quinn's usual impassive expression was now completely gone: Badesh saw that he was taken aback and… content. "I had no idea… You honour me. There are few people of whom I think well, and still fewer whom I really love – there is nobody higher in my esteem as Vette and you."

Badesh pulled Quinn into a tender kiss. He was finally at peace. Even after the kiss had ended, he held Quinn in his arms and simply felt… happy.

"I should return to my duties," said Quinn quietly.

Badesh let go of him. "Of course."

Quinn straightened his jacket and glanced one last time at him before he left. Badesh followed his every movement with his eyes until he was out of sight. Simply recalling the kiss and the words exchanged set his chest on fire – Badesh was aware that he hadn't been very eloquent, but he wasn't used to express his… affections like this. He reached out through the force and enjoyed touching Quinn's and Vette's force signatures, for so long he had wished that he could be close to them; caressing them through the force had been one of his pleasures – to think that he could now physically touch them and be touched back… Kalda's and Theron's force signatures came into his focus. Badesh remembered the holopicture and decided to pay them a visit.

ooOOoo

Seeing Theron again confused Badesh – the mere thought that he had injured Quinn still made him angry. But at the same time he felt regret that he was going to leave soon.

"I guess we should thank you for letting us go," said Theron, Badesh noticed that he sounded weary. "Even when you ruined our reputation for good."

Badesh shrugged. "You could always defect to the Empire."

"Not a chance," replied Kalda.

Theron glared at Badesh. "I'm surprised that you didn't even try to turn us."

"It would have been a waste of time – you and especially Agent Biss are too strong-willed. Besides, after what Grand Master Shan has witnessed I highly doubt that you would gain access to secret intel anymore." Badesh pulled a small stool in front of the chained agents and sat on it.

"So, you are really serious about letting us go?" asked Kalda disbelievingly. "Why are you doing it? I mean I get that Vette would try to save us. I even understand that Quinn has some quaint sense of honour that causes him to let us go. But why you?"

"Because you helped to defeat the Revanites. I admit that I first wanted to imprison you, but it would have been in vain. I learned to respect you and therefore I don't wish to harm you unnecessarily." Badesh pulled the holopicture-devise from his pocket and activated it. Then he put it in front of Kalda. "Enough about my motivations. Would you now tell me who she is?"

Kalda frowned. "You still are interested about this stupid holopicture? Alright, allow me to ask one question in return and I will answer."

"Granted." Badesh was curious, what could she possibly inquire about?

"Alright, the girl in the holopicture is me. And before you ask: My first master one took a picture of me, probably to show his friends that he had a new slave. When I was sold to another family I took it with me, it was my sole possession. I kept it all these years to remind me who I was and why I had to fight against oppression."

"Fascinating… to carry your hate as manifestation of yourself with you," mumbled Badesh.

"I wouldn't call it hate," interjected Kalda.

"Why not? Hate is a powerful force," replied Badesh. It was a fine emotion after all.

"Because hate is blind, and I am not. But now is my turn: I would ask Theron himself, but I doubt that he would be as honest as you about it… Tell me, how did you seduce him? Did you promise him to let us go?"

Badesh registered the shocked expression on Theron's face and imagined that he had a similar expression on his.

"Well?"

"…I did not promise him anything. It just happened." He felt uncomfortable, perhaps he should just leave.

"Kalda…" began Theron, "please don't. I made a mistake, I didn't sell out or…"

"You are a dork, Theron." Kalda didn't sound angry. "I never suspected that you would actually sell out, I just try to understand how this… lapse of judgement was possible."

Theron looked crestfallen and glanced from Kalda to Badesh.

"Does it matter?" Theron finally asked. "I needed comfort and Badesh was there. In a few hours we will part ways. You shouldn't be worried, Kalda – it will take me quite a time to find another Dark Council member to sleep with." A faint smile flickered across his lips.

Badesh realised that Theron was trying to lift the tension with a joke. Should he try to join in this effort? "I could provide you with Darth Nox' holocall frequency," he dryly remarked.

Theron chuckled while Kalda stared at him dumbfounded. Slowly her lips curled up in a smile.

"Now I have seen everything – a Sith making jokes. I guess Vette's influence isn't limited to the Major," Kalda stated.

Badesh reached down to the holopicture and put it off. Then he rose to his feet and put the stool away. "Even I can't elude her influence. Luckily I might add."

ooOOoo

Badesh found his companions in the cockpit. Quinn was checking their course while Vette was reading some reports.

"How long until we reach Dromund Kaas?"

"10 hours and 46 minutes, my Lord," replied Quinn smooth as ever.

"So, do we have a plan on how to proceed?" asked Vette and leaned back in the co-pilot seat.

"The anniversary of the Empire's return from the unknown regions will begin in two days, rumour has it that the Emperor himself is giving a speech. It would be the first time over a hundred years that he would appear publicly. That can't be a coincidence. Has Darth Nox called?" Badesh massaged his temples.

"Nope, but if he went to Korriban he will probably arrive in the next hour – I guess we will hear from him in couple of hours." Vette smiled at Badesh.

"It there something suspicious about the anniversary proceedings?" Badesh couldn't shake the feeling that the Emperor had to plan something big – why should he otherwise deign to attend?

Quinn scrolled through a data pad. "The festivities will begin in the late afternoon: A parade with the Empires finest soldiers and the newest weaponry, fireworks, followed by a feast and a… ball? How particular. The speech is scheduled for midnight."

"Midnight? Why so late?" asked Vette. "Or is it good old Sith tradition too give speeches in the pale light of a full moon, cuz' otherwise it wouldn't be creepy enough?"

"It is strange," Badesh looked out of the front pane and mused about what he had heard. "I have never heard of a force ritual that is tied to a particular time of the day – the force is everywhere, all the time. That leaves the question if the Emperor is waiting for something."

"It is required that the Dark Council has to attend the speech in person. Perhaps… yes, Darth Morris is on a mission in the outer rim. He is expected to arrive shortly before midnight," said Quinn, still scrolling through the data pad.

"So, the whole assembly is quite the target isn't it – not only the Dark Council, every imperial dignitary will be present," mumbled Vette.

"Are you seriously suggesting that the Emperor plans to kill the upper echelon of the Empire? Why would he sabotage his own Empire?" frowned Quinn.

"I don't know, but he obviously put a lot of effort in manipulating the Revanites to attack the Empire and the Republic. There has to be a purpose," retorted Vette.

"Perhaps the answer lies in the Emperor himself…" Badesh rubbed his chin. "He is a powerful being that has transcended mortality and his humanity. For over a millennia he is the head of one of the major forces in the known galaxy… In the past hundred years he was more than an absent landlord than a leader… What could possibly motivate him to make an appearance before his subjects?"

"An absent landlord, huh? Perhaps he wants to show everybody that he is still the top dog?" Vette stood up and started to pace.

"Nobody would ever question his authority. The Emperor is absolute; I doubt that any Sith would be bold enough to say any different," objected Quinn.

"Malavai is right… even the most delusional Sith knows that the Emperor is beyond reach for his power is without limits," confirmed Badesh.

"And yet he trapped Revan to… do what? Harness his power?" insisted Vette.

"Could it be possible that his power is weakening?" asked Quinn hesitantly.

"I don't know… I can't imagine it," replied Badesh. "At any rate we should prepare for the worst case scenario. Recall every available agent to Dromund Kaas and inform the Minister and Keeper about our suspicions."

"What about Grand Moff Kilran, my Lord? He has proven to be reliable."

"I think he and Malgus already knew… he asked me for a reason to be his escort," Vette stopped her pacing.

"But why didn't they simply tell us everything?" asked Badesh with his eyebrows knitted together.

"It seems that they had no proof beside Darth Malgus' vision from years ago. It is high treason after all to even say it out loud," speculated Quinn.

"I will contact the Imperial Reclamation Service and search for a force ritual that could be of use to the Emperor. Perhaps Darth Nox will be able fill in the gaps in the motive…" Badesh was disquieted. Time was running out and he had no doubt that the Emperor was about to kill off every last imperial dignitary.

Was there anything he or even the whole Dark Council could do against a being that was as powerful as the Emperor? He had never met him, but from the stories he had heard everything paled in comparison to the Emperor. It was said that his force persuasion was so powerful that even the strongest and most wilful Sith would succumb to it. His connection to the force was said to be so powerful that he could cover a whole planet in force lighting. No, these were myths, every being connected to the force was still a mortal being – there was no need to lose hope. They had overcome great obstacles in the past; they would succeed again.


	28. Goodbye

Vette knelt beside Theron and opened his cuffs. He looked at his arm or rather his stump and touched it cautiously. She truly felt sorry for him.

"Regrettably I wasn't able to save your hand, Agent Heian," said Quinn who stood next to Badesh in the back of the room. "However, I have arranged a cybernetic replacement on the Medbay here on the station."

"Thanks," replied Theron and rose to his feet, "uh, you don't seem to hold a grudge that I shot you."

"As the responsible medical officer on the _Fury_ it is my duty to see to the well-being of all my patients," Quinn stiffly retorted.

"Unless you have to shut down their neural pathways, right?"

"Indeed."

Vette smiled as she heard the exchange while she bent down to Kalda to free her too.

"Ah, I'm gonna miss you, Quinn. For a stuck-up imperial you're alright," said Theron with a chuckle.

Vette turned in time to see how Quinn glared at Theron.

"Mock me all you like, but since I have always employed your correct title, _Agent_ Heian, I insist that you call me by mine. I would like to think that you owe me at least that much."

Theron smiled at him. "I wasn't my intention to insult you, Major Quinn. On the contrary, you are mistaken if you think that my casual way of addressing you is a sign of disrespect. It is rather my clumsy attempt to show you that I actually like you. You helped Kalda and me and even stood up for us on occasion, despite the fact that we are on different sides. So, thanks for everything."

Quinn shifted from one leg to another. "I… I see."

Kalda was still rubbing her wrists when she joined them. Then she put her hands on her hips and looked at Quinn in a challenging fashion. "What he said. It's a pity that you're on the wrong side – I valued your professional opinion."

"Likewise, Agent Biss." To Vette's surprise Quinn snapped at attention and saluted Kalda. He really respected her – military protocol was something that was essential to Quinn.

Kalda crossed her arms and said somewhat halting: "I appreciate your gesture, Major – but I was never even near a military academy. I am no soldier."

Quinn eased back in his usual posture. "A pity, I am sure that you would have excelled and made an exceptional officer."

Kalda blinked a few times before she answered. "Thank you."

Theron had followed the exchange with an unusually serious expression on his face. Now he turned to Badesh. "It has been quite an experience to meet you, Darth Tenebra. Despite everything that has happened I am glad that I came to you. I am certain that you will see it through."

Badesh nodded. "I will. It was the right choice to join forces… republic worm."

The way Theron smiled led Vette to believe that the insult had another meaning – but as far as she recalled Badesh didn't used dirty talk during sex. Instead he had used his exquisite tongue for other things… But now wasn't the time for reminiscing. Vette focused again on the present.

"Agent Biss, I enjoyed our conversations," Badesh clasped his hands behind his back. "May your hate serve you well."

Vette assumed that it was a rather nice good-bye from a bloodthirsty Sith and hoped that Kalda understood the respect that was embedded in his words.

"Darth Tenebra – you have my gratitude," she replied with in a firm voice.

"Come on, I will accompany you off the _Fury_ ," said Vette and walked towards the exit. She heard Theron's and Kalda's footsteps behind her as she opened the hatch. Finally they stepped in the airlock hallway, Vette turned to face Theron and Kalda. She knitted her hands together.

"Well, there is an escort waiting for you just outside the airlock. The soldiers will show you the way to the Medbay." She handed Kalda a small bag. "Here are your communicators and your weapons."

"Thanks," said Kalda.

"Yeah, okay – I'm not good with good-byes…" Vette hugged Kalda and then Theron. "I hope you are doing well…"

Theron smiled sadly at her. "Not so fast, I had this really sappy speech prepared… the hugs were supposed to come _after_ it."

"All the better – then we can hug twice!" Vette beamed at them, but she felt how a small lump formed in her throat.

"Okay, here it comes… you can tell anybody who criticises your choice to stay with the Empire that you are actually making it a better place. You are an improvement for every side, but I think that the evil Sith Empire needs you more than the Republic. I mean… who else could sway Sith Lords and fanatical imperial Officers?"

Vette wanted to joke about what Theron had said, but then she changed her mind. "Do you really think so?"

"Hey, you should know that children and fools always tell the truth." Theron hugged her again. "Take care, Vette."

He let go of her and Vette turned to Kalda. "I'm going to miss you two – I hope we will see each other again under better circumstances."

Kalda surprised her when she hugged her even more forceful than Theron. "You have another view on the galaxy than I have, Vette. I sincerely hope that you can keep your optimism despite being an 'evil minion of an even eviler Sith'. But if somebody can pull it off – it would be you."

"Be careful, someone might think that you like Imps," Vette jested.

"We can't have that, can we?" Kalda said in a throaty voice. "Good-bye Vette."

Vette watched how Theron and Kalda walked to the exit and stepped out of the airlock. She would miss them, she had liked them both more than she should. Vette exhaled and entered the _Fury_.

ooOOoo

When they entered Badesh's penthouse in Kaas City Vette felt like she was coming home. She threw her bag on her bed and stepped to the window. Of course it was raining as always, but the sound of the raindrops against the glass calmed her.

She heard how the door slid open, Vette expected to see Quinn, it was Badesh who had come to talk to her.

"So, any news from Nox, boss?"

Badesh didn't answer right away, instead he wandered through the room and looked at her paintings. Vette assumed that he was trying to find the right words for whatever he wanted to discuss.

"No, nothing," he finally replied. "Where did you get these pictures? It is rare to see hand-painted tableaus."

"I brought them from an artist in the city. This one," she pointed at a picture that depicted a desert, "is my attempt to do something creative. It's not very good – but I trust that I can get better."

"I didn't know that you painted at all – reminds me of Tatooine."

"Well, just reading reports would drive me insane – and my ear for music is so bad that drawing is the only creative hobby left for me." Vette smiled at Badesh and waited to hear the real reason for his visit.

"Uh, well… I just wanted to say that I enjoyed being intimate with Quinn and you. I would like to continue our relationship, provided that you agree…" She registered that he seemed nervous.

Vette had to tiptoe to give his a peck on the cheek. "Who would say no to great sex? I'm game."

Badesh was visibly amazed. "Just like that?"

"Just like that – that's there more to discuss? We like each other and life is too short to make things complicated."

Badesh suddenly pulled her in an embrace and said quietly. "For me it's more than just sex, Vette. I hope you know that."

She returned the hug and laid her head on his chest. "I know – it's more for me too. It's just… hard to say it. It makes everything so real."

"There is no need for words; just know that I would kill half the galaxy to keep you save." Badesh let go of her, his expression was solemn.

"You are a truly a romantic… but wouldn't you slaughter half of the galaxy anyway?" Vette couldn't help herself, it was all too close to home – she felt an uncomfortable pressure in her chest. What when he changed his mind and decided that the lowly Twi'lek wasn't good enough for him and Quinn anymore? If she truly started to take it seriously… it would hurt so much to lose them.

"Of course, but that would be the other half," retorted Badesh with a straight face.

For a fraction of a moment Vette mused whether he had made a joke or not. Then she grinned at Badesh. "You are getting the hang of it, boss."

He smiled coyly.

ooOOoo

About two hours later Badesh called her and Quinn – Darth Nox had apparently discovered something disturbing.

When Vette entered the meeting room she was greeted by the Dread Force. Quinn and Badesh were already standing in front of the commstation. The bluish-grey holopicture of Darth Nox dominated the room and Vette shortly mused whether Nox had enhanced his signal to come across tall than he was.

"… do you really expect to hear from the republic agents?" asked Nox pointedly.

Badesh remained calm. "No, but it was either that or letting them waste away in some imperial prison. And should they choose to betray us we can always use the implants to discipline Agent Heian as we please."

Nox shrugged. "A pity, I was looking forward to play with Satele Shan's son. But there is of course a more pressing matter: I spoke with my old Master Darth Zash – she knows more about harnessing the force than these so-called mystics – it appears that there was once a Sith who was able to feed on force energy by draining entire planets with a unknown device."

Vette felt slightly sick, because of the Dread Force but also because the thought of a Sith _eating_ planets unsettled her.

"The Sith was known as Darth Nihilus – a rather fitting name I might add – and it is thinkable that the Emperor has studied ancient holocrons and discovered how to drain the force for his purposes," continued Nox. "I suspect that the Emperor plans to absorb the Dark Councils power during his speech."

"Forgive my ignorance, my Lord" interjected Quinn. "But the Emperor is already the most powerful being in the known galaxy. Why would he cripple his own Empire?"

"Power is an end in itself, Major. Once the appetite is whetted… the hunger grows even bigger," replied Nox cheerfully. "And I highly doubt that a being that has lived for a thousand years truly cares about his or any other Empire."

Vette saw how Quinn's face displayed shortly something akin to shock before he rearranged it into its usual unreadable expression. He was slowly getting used to the thought that the Emperor wasn't what he expected him to be, but she assumed that it still disturbed him to hear someone talk so bluntly about it.

Nox turned his attention on Badesh. "Did you learn something from Revan that could be useful?"

"No, I wasted my time – he was barely coherent," said Badesh and crossed his arms. "Time is running out, the anniversary is tomorrow. We don't have enough time to locate the device should the Emperor really plan to use it on Dromund Kaas. It seems that we simply have to be ready to fight the Emperor himself."

"But isn't the Emperor supposed to be immortal?" asked Vette. "How can we fight someone like that?"

"Brute force," replied Badesh. "If the Dark Council unites we should be able to defeat him."

Vette thought that she had heard a slight tremble in Badesh's voice.

"I like the sound of that, Darth Tenebra. I will gather my strength for tomorrow; may the Force favour us." Nox slightly bowed and his holopicture vanished.

When she was finally free of the Dread Force Vette took a deep breath. Badesh removed his mask and looked at it as he held it in his hands. Without looking up he said quietly: "We need to come up with a contingency plan. If even a fraction of the rumours about the Emperor and the powers at his disposal are true even the combined power of the Dark Council wouldn't be able to defeat him."

"Well, if raw power isn't gonna cut it we should use our brains," retorted Vette. "Even a being like the Emperor has to have a weakness we can exploit."

Quinn straightened his jacket. "Indeed, but we have to consider that the Emperor isn't alone – the Imperial Guard and his apprentices are likely to guard the Emperor with their lives."

Vette stepped to the commstation and pulled up a map of Kaas City. "If there is a weakness in his security we will find it."


	29. The Greatest Challenge

The parade of all imperial branch of services had almost come to an end. It had been several hours since the first platoons had marched past the imperial citadel in the middle of Kaas City. Badesh sat next to Darth Marr and Darth Vowran on a grandstand that was reserved for the Dark Council. He would have been bored hadn't the anticipation of the coming fight distracted his mind from the dull spectacle in front of him.

Vowran took the last sip of his wine. "What a waste of our time – I appreciate a good show of military strength, but I prefer it on the battlefield."

"Mind you tongue, Vowran. It is good to see the discipline of our troops," growled Marr. "The ball later will be a true waste of our time."

"Indeed," murmured Vowran and gestured the service droid to fill up his glass.

Badesh decided that now was a good time as any to bring up a certain topic. "I was more surprised to hear that the Emperor would give a speech."

"Yes, it is very rare for him to show himself in public," Marr remarked.

"And to think that our presence is mandatory," added Badesh quietly. He trusted his fellow Sith to be paranoid enough to understand the implication.

Vowran narrowed his eyes. "It is of course the prerogative of the Emperor to demand the presence of the entire Dark Council."

Badesh slightly bowed his head to show his consent.

"I see that you are wearing two lightsabers on your belt, Darth Tenebra. Is one of them a recent trophy?" inquired Marr in a cutting voice.

"Of course, why else would I carry two lightsabers on a festive occasion like that?" answered Badesh and glanced on his chronometer. In a matter of an hour the diner with the imperial dignitaries would start.

ooOOoo

The ball was held inside the citadel. The walls were draped with red imperial flags, a ridiculously large chandelier hung in the middle of the hall. Imperial dignitaries who had dressed up in dresses and robes made out of golden shimmersilk caught Badesh's eye as he slowly ventured into the ball. About two dozen couples were dancing to some classical piece in ¾ time. He snorted as his glanced at the so-called nobility that scurried around the political elite such as Ministers and Moffs. Luckily they were smart enough to avoid the Siths that were present. Badesh reached out through the force and felt Quinn near him. Vette was somewhere across the room on the other end of the hall, probably with Grand Moff Kilran. It was a good time to make contact as any, Badesh reached up to his headset that was hidden under his hood.

"Vette? Is everything set?" he whispered but only static hissing was answering him.

"M… int… heavy…" he heard Quinn whisper through his earpiece.

Badesh had to acknowledge that their assumption that the hidden signal they had planned to use to coordinate was too weak to cut through all the interference. Vette had already anticipated it and had simply shrugged and had said: "Well, if it comes to that we have to improvise." Yes, he had to improvise… they were most certainly under surveillance of the Imperial Guard and therefore under surveillance of the Emperor. It would be the best to remain somewhat discreet and not simply storm to Vette to talk to her and Kilran. Badesh wasn't exactly used to act discreet or even stealthy, as a towering Sith who did as he pleased he was very foreign to the very concept. How was he supposed to make contact?

Then he recalled that he had once been ordered to kill failed acolytes on Korriban who had hid in an abandoned tomb. One of them had hid himself among the other slaughtered acolytes and had almost escaped Badesh by laying still next to the dead bodies. Yes… perhaps hiding in plain sight was a suitable tactic. Badesh's gaze fell upon the dance floor and the couples that were dancing on it. Badesh gritted his teeth, he had to do it – for the Empire! Badesh turned his head to the right; Darth Vowran was obviously having a good time talking with a woman from the Imperial Reclamation Service. Then he looked on the other side. Darth Marr stood alone in a corner… perhaps he could ask…

In this very moment Quinn stepped next to him. "My Lord, to establish communications I propose a series of non-verbal signs to avoid suspicion."

Badesh was relieved to see a familiar face. Quinn looked dashing in his parade uniform too. "Major, may I have this dance?"

"Of course, my Lord," replied Quinn smoothly as ever.

Badesh and Quinn walked on the dance floor and began to dance to the waltz that was currently playing. If somebody found it peculiar for a member of the Dark Council to dance in public they didn't show it. On the contrary; Badesh saw how Darth Nox who had been avoided by other guests clapped his hands excitingly and strode to a young kaasian noblewoman with heavy make-up. After a very short conversation he led her on the dance floor.

"Everything is quiet at the moment, my Lord."

Badesh averted his gaze from Nox and looked at Quinn. "I hinted to several Darths that something might happen tonight. I can only assume that they are alarmed now, even if they don't know why. Did you hear from Vette?"

"Unfortunately not, she and Grand Moff Kilran were seated too far from me."

"I feel her force-signature in the north-eastern corner of the hall; we should try to make our way towards her," replied Badesh while focusing on keeping the pace.

"Agreed, my Lord," replied Quinn.

They slowly made their way across the dance floor. Badesh didn't care for the dance nor the music, but he liked the close proximity to Quinn. For a short moment he was tempted to move his right hand from Quinn's shoulder blade a little bit lower, but that would have been bad style and he discarded it.

Badesh spotted Vette and Kilran standing in a small group of Moffs, Vette was about to take a sip from her champagne when she caught sight of them. She almost chocked on the sparkling wine and began to cough, drawing the attention of Kilran and the other military dignitaries. For a brief moment Kilran looked taken aback when he saw what had caused Vette to cough. Then an ironic smile returned to his lips and he bowed before Vette in a rather exaggerated way. Badesh deduced that he had asked her for a dance. She seemed a little reluctant, but finally she took Kilrans outstretched hand. Murmurs rang though the crowd as they proceeded to the dance floor.

Badesh narrowed his eyes, they dared to whisper about Vette? Perhaps he had to order that some dignitaries got visited by Imperial Intelligence…

"My Lord, might I suggest that abandon any thoughts of defending Vette's honour?" said Quinn quietly. "Allowing aliens into the navy is quite new after all."

Badesh turned his attention to his partner. "Surely it bothers you to hear that some lowly scum runs their mouths about her?"

"Of course it does, but I have heard worse on the Imperial Fleet and so has Vette. Punishing some snobby dignitaries isn't going to change the Empire."

"Oh, but it would be so very satisfying…" interjected Badesh.

"My Lord… a few months ago you would have agreed with them; and so would I. They still have to learn to respect aliens."

"Indeed, and in my experience pain is always a great teacher."

Badesh registered that Kilran and Vette were moving towards them. At the beginning Vette struggled visibly with the right steps, but at the time they reached Quinn and Badesh she had memorised the movements.

"I can't concur, my Lord. But I will of course comply should you give the order to identify the dignitaries who made gamey comments," replied Quinn.

Before Badesh could answer the composition ended and they had to stop and clap to the Bith musicians who bowed their heads before playing another piece of music.

Badesh stepped to Kilran and Vette. "Grand Moff… mind if I cut in?"

Kilran smiled and bowed before Badesh. "Of course not – Major, if I may?"

Quinn also bowed. "You honour me, sir."

"Thank you for the dance lesson, Grand Moff," beamed Vette.

"Always a pleasure, Sergeant," replied Kilran and turned to Quinn.

Badesh took Vette's hand and in this very moment the quiet murmurs died down. They started to dance.

"I'm quite certain that some of the older folks in here are having a heart attack right now," remarked Vette archly. "Not only they have to see a revered member of the Dark Council dance, but he even dances with an alien upstart."

"It seems that Nox has also taken a liking in dancing," said Badesh. Nox was indeed still dancing, of course his partner looked pale and horrified because he hadn't bothered to turn down his dread power.

"Uh, I feel sorry for her…"

"You shouldn't – it is an honour to dance with a Sith."

"Okay, but it is a doubtable honour – present company excluded." She smiled at him and Badesh felt a strong affection towards her.

"Thank you… but we should focus: Is everything ready?"

"As ready as it can be, boss. We are pretty much in the dark about what could happen. Could you warn your fellow Sith?" Vette frowned.

"Yes, I think so. But it is unclear whether they will help us." Badesh felt clearly that she wasn't as relaxed as she appeared. He intensified his grip on her hand and her shoulder. "We will prevail and it will be a battle for the history books."

Her smile vanished from her lips. "Can't you just tell me that we will survive this and everything will be fine?"

"You want me to lie to you?" asked Badesh puzzled.

Vette hesitated and averted her gaze. "No, of course not… I'm just afraid that our luck has run out."

Badesh was still confused – why was she asking a question that she already knew the answer to?

"Hey, how come you know how to dance?" Her smile had returned. It seemed that Vette had already calmed down.

"The Sith academy provides it's acolytes with all necessary knowledge to represent the Sith Empire on foreign planets; including the most common social skills," he replied.

"Really? Kudos to whoever thought of it… It's nice, you know. Dancing this ridiculously posh waltz makes me feel… Well, perhaps we could do it again?" Vette seemed sad again. Badesh was confused, what was he supposed to say? Then he recalled that Vette had stated that she didn't wanted to be lied at.

"No, I don't enjoy dancing; it's an outdated social ritual."

She shrugged. "Okay, then I should dance as much as possible today, boss." Badesh wasn't sure, but Vette seemed to be… disappointed. "I'm sure that Darth Nox is up to it!"

At first Badesh was alarmed but then he realised that Vette was joking when she caught the mischievous look on her face. He chuckled and made another turn with her.

ooOOoo

It was almost time: A quick glance at his chronometer showed Badesh that the Emperor was about to give his speech shortly. The music had ended and all dignitaries stood in the back of the hall while the members of the Dark Council had taken their places on twelve thrones that had been brought in after the music had stopped. Badesh watched as slaves were carrying a gigantic black throne into the middle of the room. It's backrest almost reached the chandelier, it was plain and at the same time regal. He was curious – he had never met the Emperor in person; but he felt him approach. It was strange, whereas Badesh had anticipated that he would feel the might of the Emperor much stronger than for example Revan's power, it felt more like a hole in the force. The absence of everything surrounded the being that was drawing nearer. Badesh had never felt anything like it, there was no hate, no passion… there was absolutely nothing.

"Something is wrong…" whispered Darth Vowran at his right side. "I have met the Emperor decades ago, this feels completely different. The force used to swirl around him, but now there is no force whatsoever."

Badesh didn't answer, he was certain that the other Darths felt it as well. He reached out through the force and found Quinn's and Vette's force signature. They were in position; the question was whether they truly could defeat the Emperor. How could he kill a void?

In this moment the large doors opened and twenty Imperial Guards in their red uniforms walked in lockstep into the hall. A tall, thin figure in red robes walked in their midst. The Emperor wore a red mask without eyeholes and walked slowly towards his black throne. Badesh knew that this was the Emperor, he could see him after all; but he couldn't feel him.

Badesh grabbed his arm rests. His breath quickened, he felt how sweat was running down his temples. He was aroused and thrilled at the same time, his greatest challenge was about to begin…


	30. Mind Games

Vette had expected to feel cold as soon as the Emperor entered, in her experience every powerful Sith emitted some kind of cool aura. Therefore she found it strange only to feel Nox' dread force and nothing else. But then her gaze fell on Badesh and the only Darth that didn't wear a mask, Darth Vowran: The elderly pure-blooded Sith had previously had an air of carelessness, but the way he now stared at the Emperor betrayed that he felt… threatened?

It was creepy – to think that she was actually breathing the same air as the all-powerful Sith Emperor was disturbing and unreal. She glanced at Quinn who stood next to her. Awe and sorrow was written across his face; he saw his god, his idol and knew that he had become his enemy. Vette couldn't imagine how much it must unsettle Quinn to conspire against the Emperor… his liege and supreme commander. She reached out put her hand around his wrist, she pressed it gently.

A protocol droid stepped forward as soon as the Emperor had sat down on his throne.

"His Majesty, the Emperor, by the Grace of the Force, Supreme Commander of the Sith Empire and of all other Realms and Territories, Head of the Sith Order, is gracing us with his presence," it recited and bowed before stepping back.

The Dark Council stood up and bowed, then they sat down again while the Emperor straightened up in his seat and started to speak in a brittle and deep voice. It almost sounded like an echo from farther away.

"My subjects, it has been over a millennia since I have built the Empire. I have seen it prosper and grow… and I have seen it crumble. For the past three hundred years I have been waiting to see it return to its old strength, but it has been in vain."

Vette registered that most dignitaries started to move, fear spread through the room.

"Instead of relying on the most pure and the most powerful Sith it has become a cesspool of pretenders and foreign blood. To see the likes of you," he pointed his bony hand at Nox, "in the Dark Council is all the proof I need – this Empire has become weak and impure. Therefore I have decided to purify it in order to rebuild a better, a stronger Empire out of the ashes of the old. But there is a place for the mightiest warriors in my new Empire: Whoever kills this… blight," again he pointed at Nox, "will be rewarded!"

Silence was the answer. Vette barely dared to draw a breath and put her right hand on her blaster. This was it, their fate was about to become clear. How would the Darths react?

"Is none of you weakling courageous enough to exterminate this pest?" snarled the Emperor.

Again nobody answered, the dignitaries started slowly to move towards the exits. From the corner of her eye she saw that most of the upper ranks of the Imperial Navy left as well; only Grand Moff Kilran remained.

"Answer me or perish in silence!"

Finally Badesh rose to his feet, Vette saw how Quinn quietly started to walk towards the pillars on the side of the room. She also began to move towards the pillars on the other side of the hall.

"How exactly did you determine that our Empire is weak?"

The Emperor slowly got up from his throne. "You dare to speak to me in this impertinent tone? Bow to your Emperor, maggot!"

"Answer Darth Tenebra's question," replied Darth Nuresh in Badesh's stead.

"What is this? You dare…" hissed the Emperor.

"Yes, we dare!" interjected Darth Marr. "The Empire is strong; the Republic is losing system after system. Tell us your reasoning why you think that we are weak."

"I will indulge you… as stated earlier the very fact that aliens and other filth are allowed into the Empire instead of eradicating these subhuman beings like the vermin they are shows me that you have erred from the old ways! A thousand years ago we used to kill off unworthy species that polluted the galaxy so that the pure blooded would able to thrive without being insulted by having to share the anthroposphere with these lowlifes."

"How quaint," sneered Darth Malgus, "the Empire has evolved over the centuries from senseless barbarism to a great realm of real power and you find fault in it? Would you have preferred that no changes at all had happened?"

"Heresy! Is none amongst you who still support our traditions?" yelled the Emperor.

" _Your_ traditions you mean?" growled Badesh. "The Dark Council has changed too – we are not mindless puppets who bow down in reverence to an absent leader who hasn't bothered to partake in the Empire he has built. We have outgrown you!"

"Do you hear that, _Majesty_ ," Nox left no doubt that he mocked the Emperor, "every force-sensitive worth their salt feels that you are an abomination who is looking for a reason to feed on force power, so let's stop pretending that this is about ideology."

The Emperor slowly reached for his lightsaber. "As you wish… but you should know that you are no match for me, even with you combined powers you will fall before me."

Vette saw how the Imperial Guard drew their weapons and readied themselves for battle. She drew her blasters and glanced at Quinn on the other side of the room. He gave a sign with his left hand and in quick succession a hail of bolts rained down on the Imperial Guard; they fell within seconds.

The Emperor adapted quickly and summoned a force storm in the gallery where Cipher Nine and Vector had taken their posts with their sniper rifles. Vette ducked behind a pillar and hoped that the agents had been fast enough to dodge the attack.

"Interesting, you came prepared…" The Emperor laughed humourlessly. "But the guard was mere decoration, they had no real value to me. I am my own army."

In this moment Badesh dashed towards him and performed a series of swings. The Emperor blocked every attack with ease and force pushed Badesh away; he flew backwards into his chair but jumped instantly back on his feet.

Suddenly the Emperor was engulfed in lightning, three Darths had summoned a force storm while Darth Malgus lifted his stony throne as if it weighted nothing as threw it at the Emperor. Vette narrowed her eyes, it seemed that the force storm didn't affect the Emperor at all, he didn't even erect a force shield. But he made the effort to deflect the chair and redirected it at the Siths who were shooting lighting at him. Nox was the only one fast enough to evade the throne, the other two were hit by it and fell on the ground. Just as they were about to get up again the Emperor had rushed to them and placed his hands on their faces or rather their masks.

Darth Marr threw his lightsaber; the Emperor backed off and dodged the weapon gracile, but seeing as the two Sith who were touched struggled to get back on their feet Vette deducted that the Emperor had somehow drained their power. Badesh, Vowran, Marr and two other Darths attacked the Emperor with their lightsabers, Vette was surprised to see how harmonic their attacks seemed: Marr used his brute strength to drive the Emperor back with powerful blows while Vowran had sneaked behind the Emperor and tried to stab him in the back. With one incredibly swift movement the Emperor used the force to push Marr away while blocking Vowran's lightsaber with his own by spinning around just in time. He had probably felt Vowran's presence, Vette glanced at Quinn who was speaking in his holocommunicator without letting the Emperor out of sight.

She turned her attention again on the fight. It seemed as if the Dark Council could actually defeat the Emperor – he was driven back meter by meter. Badesh roared and jumped at him; as their lightsabers interlocked he instantly applied the force choke and for a fraction of a moment the Emperor was lifted into the air, exposed to the Darth Marr's attack – he rushed towards the Emperor, ready to impale him. But then the Emperor started to emit a crimson aura and used a mighty force push to hurl all his opponents away.

"Enough! I came here to feed on you – and I won't be denied!" yelled the Emperor and with a single gesture he pulled Darth Malgus to him and pressed both his hands on his face. Malgus screamed and struggled to free himself, but in a matter of seconds his movements grew weaker and finally they stopped. The Emperor let him go and with a heavy sound one of the most powerful Sith in the galaxy fell lifeless on the floor.

Vette froze, what if this happened to Badesh? She had to act! Just as she was about to leave her cover she felt how somebody had taken hold of her right arm. She jerked her head back and saw that it was Kilran who had grabbed her.

"Wait for the right moment, Sergeant! Charging in like that won't accomplish anything!" he barked.

Vette gritted her teeth, but then she nodded and crouched down again. In the meantime two Darths had fallen prey to the Emperor, their bodies lay in front of him and he begun to glow again in the dark-red aura. Vette was perplexed to see that the Sith were all struggling to get on their feet, the Emperor seemed to drain their energy.

"You are but an appetizer for me… as soon as I have crushed you I will devour Dromund Kaas! Perhaps as next Korriban; there are a few troublesome force-users I would like to take care of before I turn to other Planets." He turned to Darth Nuresh who had managed to get up. She charged at him and fought with her double-bladed lightsaber with an vigour that impressed Vette; other Sith weren't even able to move anymore. Badesh had regained his strength as well and joined Nuresh with a series of graceful hits. They managed to graze the Emperors chest before he pushed them away as before.

"It was you, Darth Tenebra… wasn't it? You disturbed my plans for Korriban and Typhon and even took Revan from me. I see you and your weaknesses! You really connected to your companions – through the force nonetheless. I feel that they are here… let's have some fun while I drain you."

Vette cursed under her breath as she felt something touching her mind, it was a strange tingling sensation that made her nauseous. At the same time she felt an urge to simply stand up and… Yes, stand up and go… She shrugged something off that tried to hold her back. Quinn was already slowly walking towards the Emperor, his face screwed up in pain. He was struggling against the mind-trick but he wasn't able to free himself from it. Vette saw it all but it still seemed a good idea to follow the Emperor's call.

"Vette! Quinn! Snap out of it!" yelled Badesh.

"Oh, they are certainly trying," jeered the Emperor, "but even the strongest Sith aren't able to withstand me – and your trusted, precious companions don't have the means to defy me. Wouldn't it be poetic if one of them were the one to deliver the final blow to their beloved master?"

Badesh roared again and got up once more, his face screwed in extortion he assaulted the Emperor again, but his attack came to a halt when Quinn stepped into his way. Blood was now running from his nose; Vette stepped next to Quinn, blocking Badesh's way to the Emperor completely.

"Tenebra! Cut them down!" yelled Nox.

"Ah… but you can't, can you?" taunted the Emperor. "Your feelings run too deep. Major, draw your blaster."

"M… my Lord…" stammered Quinn, his whole body shaking. But then he pulled his blaster and trained it at Badesh. Vette stared in horror at the scene, but she was unable to even lift a finger, she tried to summon her last strength to break the mind-control, but to no avail.

"What a joke – you really trusted this degenerate alien and this absurdly misguided officer to help you defeat me? The last hope of the mighty Darth Tenebra as well as the Dark Council: Weaklings!" The Emperor laughed and gestured with his hand, Vette felt how she was drawn with a force pull towards the Emperor who grabbed her by her throat. "You should consider yourself honoured that I even touch you, you Twi'lek scum!"

Vette had been scared before, but now her fear was gone. Seeing her opponent up close made her determined; Badesh had predicted this situation, no Sith not even the Emperor could resist to taunt him with his alleged weakness for this companions. Kilran had been right – the right moment was here. She readied herself. Badesh gritted his teeth and had at the same time a pleading look on his face.

"Onomatophobia," he muttered.

"What is this? Impo…" shrieked the Emperor.

As soon as Vette heard the word everything around her went calm. Despite being choked by the Emperor she reached for her blasters; the command was supreme – nothing else was important anymore. The pain was irrelevant. Only the command counted. The command was supreme. The command was _supreme_! The expression on Quinn's face changed as well from pained into an indifferent one. Without hesitation he turned and shot at the Emperor. Despite the short distance the Emperor still managed to move fast enough to avoid the blaster bolt. He screamed in anger and started to force-choke Quinn. Vette trained her blasters at the Emperor, but she was hurled into a pillar before she could fire a shot. In this very moment two blaster shots rang out. The Emperor let go of Quinn; the Sith silently fell onto the floor, his back of the head showed a rather large blaster entry wound. As soon as the Emperor slid down on the floor a metallic protocol droid who had stood behind him became visible. He held a small blaster in his hand and it seemed that he had been frozen in the movement the moment he had killed the Emperor.

Vette stood up and simply stared at the scene. She wanted to rush to Quinn and Badesh, but she couldn't – the command didn't allow it. Quinn was lying next to the Emperor with an equally blank expression on his face.

"IX serum deactivation," Badesh whispered and from one moment to another Vette felt how she was again in control of her thoughts and movements. Quinn's expression also changed back from impassive to animated as he slowly rose to his feet. The members of the Dark Council slowly closed in on the dead body of the Emperor.

Darth Marr glanced at the droid. "How unexpected – the Emperor slain by a lowly droid." He turned to Badesh. "I guess this is your work?"

Badesh clasped his hands behind his back. "Yes, sensing droids through the force isn't an easy feat – I additionally used my companions as decoys to distract the Emperor."

"I wasn't aware that protocol droids were even able to wield weapons," remarked Vowran.

"Major Quinn and Sergeant Ce'na worked day and night on our ship droid to overwrite his safety protocols," retorted Badesh. "I was told that it took 31 patches to program Tovee to carry a blaster."

"It seems that the droid wasn't the only thing that was properly programmed," jeered Nox in a cheerful voice. "A masterful piece of brainwashing, Darth Tenebra – were your subordinates even aware that you had them conditioned?"


	31. Primus Inter Pares

Badesh focussed to keep his force signature as unfeeling as possible. The idea of implanting a single command into their minds had been Vette's in order to counteract any mind-trick the Emperor might pull. Force-users could alter the free will of an individual, but if said free will was subjugated to a conditioned order it couldn't be manipulated anymore – or at least that was the theory they had come up with. The problem had been of course the time frame; the remaining time had been just enough to use a newly developed brainwash serum based on Quell toxin to condition Vette and Quinn with the command to kill the Emperor.

"Yes, that was my condition if they wanted to stay in my services," replied Badesh. "It seems that this particular safety precaution paid off."

If any of the other Dark Council members recognized the lie they didn't say it. Badesh reached out through the force to Vette and Quinn; it seemed that they were unharmed.

"He would have devoured us as well as Dromund Kaas," said Marr, "it was fortunate that we or rather Darth Tenebra killed him. However, the question remains that we will tell the public."

Nuresh crossed her arms. "Every dignitary on Dromund Kaas has heard his words – we have to announce that the Emperor is dead."

"My Lords… if I may?" Grand Moff Kilran stepped to them.

"You speak out of turn, Grand Moff," hissed Darth Morris.

"He does not," interjected Badesh. "Kilran was essential for my plans and he is a cunning tactician – say your piece, Grand Moff."

"Thank you, Darth Tenebra. Might I suggest that we inform the public that the Emperor simply wanted to test the resolve of the Dark Council? Over the coming months we simply spread that he has gone into seclusion to meditate. Our Emperor hasn't been active in the past decades – nobody will notice the difference."

"You want to deny Darth Tenebra the credit he is due?" asked Morris incredulously.

"My Lord… the common imperial citizen idolises the Emperor and thinks that he is immortal. How can we explain that he had to be put down like a rabid akk-dog?" replied Kilran with his usual sarcastic intonation.

"The Grand Moff is right – we gain nothing by admitting that the Emperor is dead. I suggest that we claim that one of us has been declared the 'voice of the Emperor'. This way we can use the Emperors authority to our ends," proposed Darth Nuresh.

"I agree and I think that there is an obvious candidate for the 'Voice'," concurred Nox while clapping with his hands in an almost giddy way.

"It certainly seems the rational thing to do," said Vowran. "But I only agree when the Voice is primus inter pares – first among equals."

Badesh nodded. "For the Empire it's certainly the best."

"Is that really enough for you? You surprise me, Darth Tenebra…" Marr stared at him.

"It is; I have come to the conviction that we are but caretakers of an infinite Empire – I am well aware that this isn't the Sith way, but instead of wasting resources on my personal fights I wish for the Empire to thrive." Badesh pointed on the dead body of the Emperor. "He was a fossil from another time, still wallowing in barbaric rituals, we should move forward. As Sith we know that the new will kill the old – like our apprentices will kill us someday and take our places." He looked from one Dark Council member to another. "I hereby propose that we take another step forward and enable all slaves to join the imperial navy to escape their caste – given that they meet the requirements of course. Because we are _not_ afraid of change and because we can crush the Republic with the best soldiers the galaxy has ever seen!"

Badesh wasn't surprised that his little speech was met with silence. His colleagues probably thought about the risks this new course posed for them. Finally Nox cleared his throat.

"I support Darth Tenebra's motion."

Marr nodded. "I second to that."

Slowly every one of them agreed to Badesh's proposal. He felt something akin to the same satisfaction when he maimed somebody when he realised that he had done something to change a whole Empire – thanks to him and his companions billions of new alien soldiers and force-sensitives would tip the balance in favour of the Empire and destroy finally destroy the weak Republic! For a short moment he pictured himself slowly strangling Satele Shan to death – she would regret every word she had dared to mutter in his direction! It would be glorious!

ooOOoo

When Quinn, Vette and Badesh returned to their penthouse it was almost sunrise. Badesh reached out through the force to touch the minds of his companions; they were tired but also content.

"We will eradicate every trance of the IX serum as fast as possible," announced Badesh and pulled his mask off. "It was disgusting to put you through that treatment in the first place and I have no wish to let this filth poison your minds."

"Of course, I will arrange everything with Imperial Intelligence – I recommend that you oversee our treatment personally, Badesh. It is highly possible that a rival might try to implant a new command while we are unguarded," replied Quinn outright.

"Yeah, the sooner the better – it was quite disturbing how we were absolutely powerless against the mind-trick as well as against the brainwashing. It was so… easy…" added Vette and let herself fall on a couch and put her feet on the coffee table.

"Do you think that anybody bought my lie about forcing you to this conditioning?" asked Badesh calmly. He knew that the close bond he shared with his lovers was well known among the Dark Council, and this put Vette and Quinn at risk.

"I doubt it," Quinn sat down next to Vette and gave her a peck on the mouth. "The way Darth Nox conveniently supported your lie indicates that at least he doesn't believe it. And concerning the other Darths…"

Vette leaned over to Quinn and kissed him on the mouth so that the rest of the sentence was muffled. She continued in his stead: "… they will believe it; I think they are simply not capable of even picturing trusting somebody like you trust us. They will always believe that everything has to be a ruse in one way or another."

Badesh smiled at them. Seeing Vette and Quinn alive and well made him happy.

Vette beamed at him. "Come here, boss – I still have to kiss you for giving slaves across the Empire a chance to escape their fate – even when their choices are still limited."

Badesh joined them on the couch and sat down next to Vette who gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Mal… don't you want to contradict me? 'Joining the imperial navy is an honour' and so on?" asked Vette archly.

"It is – but even I must admit that their choices are indeed limited," retorted Quinn and opened the topmost button of his jacket before leaning back. "I inquired about Cipher Nine and Agent Hyllus – it seems that they will pull through. Keeper informed me that they need to stay in the kolto tanks for two weeks though."

"I knew that Nine was too stubborn to die," Vette joked, but even Badesh saw that she was really relieved to hear that they were going to be alright.

The sun begun slowly to rise, the sky above Kaas City was covered in dark cloud as always, but the slight change of light showed that a new day had dawned. A new beginning… Badesh felt tired and let his thought wander to the coming challenges; he glanced at Vette and Quinn who had solemn, even grave expressions on their faces – he guessed that they mused on the tasks to come as well. But whatever the galaxy threw at them, they could best it! The glory and might of the Empire had to…

"So, who is up for pancakes?" asked Vette.

"I was just about to suggest the same thing," replied Quinn dryly.

Badesh chuckled. "I was thinking about breakfast too."

"And since we not only saved the Empire but the whole galaxy I move that we use real maple syrup from Alderaan!" exclaimed Vette and jumped on her feet.

"I concur, I would like to add that it would be necessary to complement the pancakes with fresh berries in order to optimize the flavour," Quinn said as stuck-up as ever, but a smile played about his lips.

"Alright, but don't forget the cream," said Badesh. "Now go forth and do my bidding, minions!"

He watched how Vette and Quinn disappeared in the dining room and got up. Badesh walked to the large window in the lounge and looked at the citadel in the middle of Kaas City. Rain was battering on the glass, the rhythmic sound was quite hypnotic. Soon he had to travel to Korriban to choose a new apprentice, Badesh wished that he could wait longer – but of course that was wishful thinking. He just had to make sure that the apprentice understood how they worked. At least until had to kill him or her…

"Everything is set up," called Vette, "stop your brooding and eat some delicious pancakes, boss!"

Badesh turned away from the window and strode into the dining room.

ooOOoo

Korriban was as inhospitable as always. A hot wind blew red sand across the way to the Sith academy. Badesh walked up front, followed by Vette and Quinn. Today he would choose a new apprentice, Badesh was curious how many had passed through the trials. Back when he was an acolyte it had only been him and Vemrin. How strange to think that it had only been two years since he had left Korriban with Vette.

Badesh ignored the acolytes who bowed before him as he briskly walked past them. At the entrance of the academy stood an overseer who greeted Badesh and led him into the training halls. A year ago there had been about 20 acolytes, but today there were only four left. Badesh assumed that the rest of them had been killed one way or another.

Badesh let his gaze glide over the candidates for the apprenticeship: Two pure-blooded Sith, a human and a Nautolan. He remembered the nautolan woman, it was the one they had saved from Kaon – Zinna.

"I am surprised to see that so many acolytes passed the tests," remarked Badesh and turned to the overseer, a dark-skinned human male.

"It is unusual, but since Lord Razer we changed the tests to include intelligence tests as well. After all it would be unfortunate to promote candidates who lack the necessary cognitive skills to gasp the full extent of their tasks," the overseer replied.

"That is certainly wise," retorted Badesh.

"Thank you, my Lord. These two," the overseer pointed at one of the pure-bloods and the human, "are the strongest acolytes in terms of raw fighting power, whereas these two, "he gestured towards Zinna and the other pure-blood, "received top marks in all cognitive tests."

"I wish to see an example of the battle prowess – the nautolan shall fight against the stronger pure-blood, whereas the human and the other pure-blood battle against each other."

"Of course, my Lord – to the death?" asked the overseer calmly.

"No, I merely wish to see their capabilities," answered Badesh.

The overseer bowed and gestured the acolytes to draw their training blades. Badesh crossed his arms and reached out through the force, he was curious about the force signatures of the candidates. But before he focused on them he allowed himself to touch Vette's and Quinn's. It made him content to feel them.

The battles begun and Badesh scanned the acolytes and their fighting style: It was no surprise that the physical stronger candidates gained quickly the upper hand in the fights. Zinna fought admirably, she used her limited fighting skills very effectively considered that it wasn't her strong suit. At one point she even managed to shot lighting at her opponent, quite a feat for an acolyte, but the male pure-blood simply dodged the attack and hit her with the hilt of his training sword. Zinna fell on the ground and received two kicks in her stomach before the overseer ended the fight.

The other fight was less one-sided: the human male and the pure-blooded woman fought as equals. Badesh was surprised how agile the pure-blood was – she was supposed to be the scholarly type and yet she fought with grace. When the human tripped she even waited for him to get up before she continued the fight. In the end the pure-blood managed to knock the weapon out of her opponents hand and the overseer ended the fight.

All four stepped in front of Badesh and bowed.

"A fine selection, overseer – all four show great potential," said Badesh and started to pace back and forth. "I will ask each of you a question, and I expect an honest answer."

"Yes, my Lord," the four of them said in unison.

Badesh stopped in front of the human. "Why did you lose against someone who was presumably weaker than you?"

The man looked Badesh straight in the eye. "I underestimated her – it won't happen again."

"And you – why did you win against someone who was supposed to be stronger than you?"

The pure-blood woman bowed. "I learned during my studies that being underestimated is the key to victory. So I held back during the trainings to appear weaker than I am in order to succeed today."


	32. Epilogue

Vette was fascinated by the Sith's explanation. She was obviously very cunning and strong at the same time. Vette had hoped that Zinna would prove to be a suitable apprentice for Badesh, but her fighting skills were unfortunately not good enough… Badesh wouldn't choose somebody who wasn't able to win against another acolyte.

Zinna seemed to have realised it too, she barely looked up when Badesh addressed her: "Why are you the weakest among all four of you?"

"I was weak because I focused on my studies instead of my fighting skills. Although I can read old transcripts and hence discover the secrets of the force I wasn't able to use this knowledge effectively in a fight."

Vette had always suspected that Zinna wasn't a fighter, but to hear her admit it and with it losing her hope of getting away from his horrible place… it hurt. And there was nothing she could do. There was no question that the pure-blooded woman was the best choice.

Badesh stepped to the last candidate. "Why did you kick the acolyte after the fight was obviously over?"

A cocky smile was visible on the pure-bloods face. "Because alien scum deserves to be kicked, my Lord."

Vette got angry at this response, but at the same time she felt a certain satisfaction that the acolyte had been stupid enough to insult not only Zinna but also herself – and Badesh wouldn't accept that.

"Care to repeat that to Sergeant Ce'na?" asked Badesh calmly and gestured towards Vette.

The acolyte now realised his mistake; the complacency vanished from his face as he visibly struggled to think up a solution for his blunder.

"I meant that useless alien scum deserves to be kicked, my Lord – it is obvious that the Sergeant is on another level than a weak acolyte," he finally said.

Badesh simply stared at him; the man grew visibly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Without another word he stepped in front of the pure-blooded woman. "Name?"

"Azhikdae, my Lord," she replied quietly.

"You deserve to be my apprentice, Azhikdae. Pack your belongings and meet us at the shuttle in an hour – you are dismissed." He turned to the other acolytes. "You will stay."

Azhikdae bowed and strode calmly out of the room.

Vette tried to make eye contact with Zinna; she was undoubtedly scared what would happen now. She wanted to calm her down, Badesh had already announced to her and Quinn that he intended to discontinue the tradition of simply killing the contenders. But Zinna didn't look at her, she stared at Badesh; probably she wanted to show him that she wasn't afraid.

"Do you wish to kill the runner-ups yourself, my Lord?" inquired the overseer.

"That won't be necessary, as I stated before: all of them have potential. It would be a waste of resources to kill them. I will recommend them to lesser Sith Lords who are in need of an apprentice," replied Badesh.

"How novel," murmured the overseer but bowed nonetheless. "You should thank Darth Tenebra for sparing your life acolytes."

They bowed before him. Badesh turned on his heel and walked with Quinn and the overseer to his office. Vette stayed behind to talk to Zinna.

"Did Darth Tenebra mean it?" said Zinna before Vette could even greet her.

"Yes, in fact I hear that a Lord named Silthar who works closely with the Imperial Reclamation Service is on his way to Korriban to get an apprentice," Vette tried to smile in an encouraging way at her. "I could imagine that he wants somebody who can read old transcripts and is the scholarly type…"

Zinna frowned at her. "Really? Is this some kind of trick?"

"No, no of course not… I just feel an obligation to help you – after all it is our fault that you ended up here." Vette felt a small stab in her heart. Zinna hadn't only become distrustful, she also seemed harder than a year ago. There was a bitter trait written across her face that showed determination as well as anger.

Zinna blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, Vette… It's just the things I did to get here, to survive… It changes you. But perhaps it's better that way – I learn a lot here and if I make it I will be powerful enough to…"

Vette waited for her to continue, but after a few moments it became clear that Zinna had no intention to finish the sentence.

"I won't pretend that I know what you have been through. But hold out a little longer and you will get off this rock." Vette supressed her urge to touch Zinna; surely it wouldn't bode well should somebody watch them.

"I will," replied Zinna with a firm voice. "I have to go now, Vette. We will see each other again," a faint smile flickered across her lips before she bowed and strode out of the room.

ooOOoo

Vette met Quinn and Badesh as they stepped out of the overseer's office.

"I would like to talk to you before we return to the _Fury_ ," said Badesh.

"Of course, my Lord," replied Quinn smoothly.

Vette was still thinking about Zinna and merely nodded. She followed Badesh into a conference room which was decorated with ancient Sith masks and relics. Vette shuddered at the sight of them and the memory of her first time on Korriban.

As soon as the door had slid shut Badesh removed his mask. He looked at it shortly before clearing his throat and glancing at them. The way he averted his gaze led Vette to believe that he was to say something emotional.

"Well… Azhikdae will be joining us on our missions. We all knew that this time would come, every Sith has to have an apprentice, but I want to assure you that I will keep her under close surveillance. Should she even think of laying a finger on you… I would kill her without hesitation." Badesh stared to pace back and forth. "According to her file she is as intelligent as powerful, given her modus operandi she will downplay her abilities and try to gain your trust – but do not trust her. There is a high possibility that she will try to kill me in a few years and I suspect that she will try to dispose of you as well."

Vette put her hand on her hips. "But she could also stay loyal, right?"

Badesh smiled at her. "Of course, but I don't want to take this risk."

"I will keep her under surveillance as well," Quinn added stiffly.

"I know you will," replied Badesh and put his right hand on Quinn's shoulder. Then he grabbed Quinn's secondary utility belt which hung across his chest and pulled him in for a kiss. Vette felt how her heart started to pound. She loved them and seeing them together stirred something in her. Finally Quinn broke the kiss and smiled at Vette. She stepped closer and embraced him. Quinn kissed her with passion. When they had ended their caress they both breathed heavily. Vette turned and tip-toed to give Badesh a peck on his cheek.

"We should save it until we are on the _Fury_ – although there is an certain appeal to doing it in the sacred halls of the Sith academy," Vette chuckled.

She saw how Quinn was about to say something – no doubt he wanted to express his indignation about her disrespectful comment, but he remained silent in the end. She kissed him again.

"You are so sweet when you get all imperial-and-proper, Mal!"

He kept his upper stiff lip. "I aim to please." (And suddenly, she realised that other things about him were already stiff as well. Maybe the idea of this desecration turned him on after all…)

ooOOoo

Azhikdae waited at the shuttle like commanded. She stood proud and tall, like Badesh she wore several golden piercings in her face, her eyes shone in a bright yellow. Vette assumed that she had stared too much since the apprentice returned her stare, Vette smiled at her. Azhikdae had a surprised look on her face but didn't smile back. Badesh stepped into the shuttle, followed by Azhikdae, Quinn and herself. Vette registered with dismay that the hierarchy was already clear. She and Quinn had to obey her. Unpleasant memories of Jaesa resurfaced and Vette felt suddenly insecure. Just as she was about to muse about her future role in their outfit she caught a glimpse of Azhikdae's face. She smiled at her and it wasn't a fucked-up crazy Sith-smile – it seemed genuine.

Maybe there was still hope for their little group.

 **The End**

 **I hope you enjoyed my story :) I'm probably writing the third part of "Ryloth" as soon as the KotfE content is available. If you have any wishes, which aspects I should include in the next fic – just write/comment on it. I will try to work it in :3**


End file.
